Justice Has Not Yet Been Served

When I saw Mr.O'Connor's post on our class website, I was excited. The death penalty is something I have spent a lot of time researching, and I have come to the conclusion that not only is it horrific, but it in no way serves the justice it intends to.

For one, many people believe that the death penalty saves the U.S thousands of dollars, because instead of boarding someone for their whole life, they are quickly killed. This is a huge misconception. The amount of money it costs to prepare the murder, whether it be lethal injection or hanging, plus the amount it costs to board the accused while on death row, in addition to the amount it costs for a trial and all those involved (and commonly all of the multiple re-trials) ends up overriding the amount of keeping the person in prison.

Also, on http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/deterrence-states-without-death-penalty-have-had-consistently-lower-murder-rates I read a shocking statistic. In the states that the death penalty is used, there is a higher death rate. Seems ironic, doesn't it? Well, while capitol punishment strives to provide justice, it instead creates a cycle of violence. When one person is killed, and the so called murderer is sentenced to die, more than just the original family will feel the grief of loosing a loved one, and commonly want to retaliate. Therefore, the death penalty actually encourages gang violence, in which members hate on other gangs because an injustice has been done, and they feel the need to retaliate.

Additionally, consider this. If someone is put into a jail cell for the REST of their lives, kept from society, it is more likely that they will feel a sense of remorse. They are forced to sit everyday and be reminded of the heinous acts they committed. Whereas someone who is given the death penalty can die as a martyr.

Like Mr.O'Connor's post showed, many of the people who are sentenced to death may actually be innocent. And how can you ever stop their punishment if they are dead? On this website it shows how so many innocent people have been convicted to death, and how not all have been fortunate enough to walk away from it. (http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/node/523)

Finally, it's important to recognize the other countries that use the death penalty. The United States, China, Iran, Sudan, Yemen, and North Korea, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. I remember reading an article a few years ago that stated that Europe was weary to trade with America because they believe us to be uncivilized due to capitol punishment. Is this truly what we as Americans want to be affiliated with? It's a harsh reality to realize that America, the country for the free, may in fact be locking up those free and sentencing them to death. All the death penalty has become is a brute, inhumane, unsuccessful tactic to scare people away from murdering others. What in fact are we truly accomplishing by killing yet another human being?