The death penalty has been a heated debate in the United States for quite some time now. It’s legal in America but states vary on their stance on it. In thirty-one states the death penalty is currently legal while in nineteen states the death penalty has been abolished. Like stated before the death penalty is a very controversial topic. When I think about the death penalty it reminds me of The Obsolete Man. It was an episode from the series called the Twilight Zone basically portraying a fictional situation where the state could consider if a person valuable or not to a society, and thus kill them if they think otherwise. It might be kind of a reach, but this is similar to the death penalty. It is essentially giving the state the power to choose who is and isn’t obsolete.
The argument against this would be that these people sentenced to death did horrible and horrendous crimes which is why they need to be sentenced to die. I don’t think anyone is denying that these people need to be punished. But is being sentenced to death really the worse kind of punishment? A lot of criminals would rather have the death penalty instead of living in a cell for the rest of their life. People would object to this by saying that the prisons are too cozy and these people shouldn’t be let off that easy. I agree, which is why I think some of the criminals who do the terrorist attacks and kill multiple amount of people should be sent to a max security prison with tougher rules and more manual labor. By sentencing them to death you are just as bad as the killer is.
If someone killed my family so I decided to kill them, it doesn’t matter how wrong the killer of my family was or how gruesome it was, I would still go to jail. So why does the state get to get away with it? Just because they are more powerful and other people think it’s justified? I’m sure people would think me killing the murderer of my family was justified, I still would be in trouble for it. The state is held to a different standard than we are which is wrong. Just because they have different titles than we do doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be accountable for their actions.
Another argument the pro death penalty use is that we shouldn’t use our tax dollars to feed and shelter these murders. On the contrary, the death penalty actually is the more costly choice. In California alone cases without the death penalty cost $740,000, while cases where the death penalty is sought cost $1.26 million. Maintaining each death row prisoner cost taxpayers $90,000 more per year than a prisoner in general population. This was the trend among most states where the death penalty is legal. A lot of times prisoners are on death row for years until they are finally executed. The constitution requires a long and complex judicial price for capital offenses. So in the end, the death penalty is actually the more costly decision.
The government can’t even deliver mail right and were going to give them the power to kill people? 4% of people who have been sentenced to death were actually found guilty. You might be thinking that is a small amount compared to the people that are, but it shouldn’t matter how little the statistic is. Even one person being killed who was innocent is way too many. Even if the system was 100% accurate I still wouldn’t support it, but this is just another reason not to. Since 1976 1,389 have been executed in the United States. 4% of that number would be fifty-six people. Fifty six people who were killed unjustly by the state, for no reason at all. But the state can get away with it. How is that justice?
Some Christians try to use the bible to support why they think the death penalty should be legal, which I find wrong. A lot of times they’ll pull up verses from the Old Testament law which was the old covenant. Christian’s today do not live by the old covenant because Jesus came and renewed it. Even in the Ten Commandments it says “Thou shall not Kill.” Jesus says to follow the Ten Commandments and quotes it throughout the gospels. Jesus also talks about forgiveness and compassion for his people. Who are we to play God? Who are we to decide who gets to live and who gets to die? That’s not for us to decide. As Christians we should know that God will be the ultimate judge when it comes to what we do on earth. The murderers and the rapists will deal will have to answer to God when the time comes. That should be enough punishment on its own.
All in all the main reason I’m against the death penalty is because it gives the state way too much power over its people. The government should not be held to less of a standard than the average American. They are still putting people to death and they are still committing homicide. It doesn’t matter how justified and what are feelings think should happen to the person, it is still murder just with a different name. Two wrongs will never make a right, no matter how hard we try. The death penalty doesn’t fix anything, it’s just an endless circle of hatred and government overreach.
Politically Incorrect Princess 