By Cameron S.
With over 2 million people behind bars, the United States currently has the largest prison population in the world. According to the Bureau of Justice 3,260 of those are on death row awaiting execution. Ironically, the country that provides the most freedom leads the world in locking people up.
Capital punishment has been practiced in America for over 400 years. For centuries people accepted this consequence. In fact, executions used to be held in public squares for all to see. “An eye for an eye” is a belief that has existed since biblical times. But perhaps Gandhi spoke truth when he said “an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.” Capital punishment eliminates the option for forgiveness, second chances, and repentance.
Death row is corrupt, unfair, and inhumane. Life is a God-given blessing to experience and we, as humans, have no right to take that from somebody, no matter what the circumstance. Let’s not forget the fact that it being in human hands opens up the opportunity for human error. There are also the rationalizations of it being a deterrent or a cheaper alternative. How can you not question its existence?
From the ages of 13-17 I managed to familiarize myself with the court system. I was selfish, depressed, and angry at the cards life had dealt me. As a result, I turned to things that allowed me to escape, such as drugs and alcohol. Probation, house arrest, juvenile hall – nothing could stop my descent to destruction.
God’s grace and the perseverance of my parents, gave me numerous opportunities to change my life and become a better person. My parents never gave up on me. I always wished they would so that I could do what I want, but that never happened and because of that, today I am completely different. “Don’t quit before the miracle happens.”
Repentance can happen to anyone, and through my experience I know now this to be true. I know there are some of you who are reading this and thinking is this guy serious? These people deserve what they get. But let me challenge that with saying, where would you be if you never had second, third, or fourth chances? Many of us have got away with horrible and heinous acts. People in jail are there because they didn’t get away with what they had done.
Capital punishment is not a deterrent for future murders; studies have shown that capital punishment has no effect at all. According to a 2002 FBI Uniform Crime Report, “. . . the South repeatedly has the highest murder rate. The South accounts for over 80 percent of executions. The Northeast, which has less than one percent of all executions in the United States, had the lowest murder rate.” Texas leads the US in executions. Former Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox, who had presided over many of the state’s executions remarked, “It is my own experience that those executed in Texas were not deterred by the existence of the death penalty law.”
Supporters of the death penalty claim that executing their fellow citizens is cheaper than imprisoning criminals for life. The facts prove the contrary. According to The New Press “it is three times more costly to execute a prisoner than it is to keep them in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 year.” In Texas, “sending a killer to death row costs an average of $2.3 million,” reports the Dallas Morning News.
This method of dealing with criminals only perpetuates the cycle of violent behavior. How can you expect people to listen to you when you’re doing the same thing they were doing? It’s the epitome of hypocrisy!
Capital punishment is faulty in nature, as it relies on the fallible nature of human beings. Room for human error is huge. According to The Nation, “Between 1973 and 1995, seven out of 10 death-penalty cases were thrown out on appeal due to flaws in the trial.”
Countless studies have proven that the death penalty in the United States is riddled with bias – such as class injustices. The facts speak for themselves — Amnesty International reports that “95 percent of all people sentenced to death in the United States could not afford their own attorney.”
Racial injustices are also present. Not only do the poor suffer from our legal system, but minorities do as well. A recent study at the University of North Carolina has proven that the “odds of receiving a death sentence rose 3.5 times among those defendants whose victims were white.” Bias against the defendant as well cannot be hidden. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, “between 1995 and 2000, 75 percent of the federal cases in which juries recommended the death penalty involved black or Latino defendants.”
How can we call ourselves the “land of the free” with a straight face while remaining one of the few first-world countries that still executes its citizens? Is it comforting to know that “the United States, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia account for over 80 percent of executions” according to Amnesty International?
