"Humans are the only primates who willfully, extensively and enthusiastically perpetrate the killing of their own kind.”---Hans Magnus Enzenzberger, a German lyricist and author
Some American citizens approve of the death penalty because they feel safer knowing that they do not have to worry about killers roaming the streets. It puts their minds at ease when these “monsters” are put to death. If you need to kill another person for your own wellbeing, then who is really the monster? A person's right to live (even if behind bars) has been replaced by Americans' need for personal security. Though not all states abide by the law of capital punishment, I believe that Americans care too much about vengeance and not enough about justice.
One man who strongly opposed the death penalty during his life was Benjamin Franklin. He believed "that it is better [one hundred] guilty persons should escape than that one innocent person should suffer." Benjamin Franklin was one of the Framers of the United States Constitution as well as one of our nation's founding fathers. He also helped write the eighth amendment which says, "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines be imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment be inflicted." Congress has since ruled that the death penalty abides by the eighth amendment; however, it is my belief that Benjamin Franklin wrote the amendment to put an end to capital punishment. Why would Benjamin Franklin, who so strongly opposes the death penalty, want the amendment he wrote to approve of capital punishment?
Most Americans that hear about a murder on the news have sympathy for the victims' families. It is natural for people to be concerned when they see others in sadness and Americans tend to place themselves in their position in an effort to show that they care. The media does a poor job following the murderer and their families. Nobody cares about a killer's family. Why does society not care? Are the families of the murderers not hurting also? I believe that the families of the murderers have it worse than the families of the victims. They feel as though others do not care about them and they are “looked down” upon as if they too committed the killing. Betsy Wolfenden, the co-founder and President of Restitution Incorporated says that it is especially tough for children who have family on death row. “The children whose parents are on death row… suffer in silence,” she says. “I know of one 9-year-old who writes on his calendar, "Daddy dies today," each time his father receives a new execution date.” Restitution Incorporated is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting healing between offenders and victims by helping offenders make restitution for their crimes. Capital punishment is helping expose our children and our society to more death, which does not bode well for the future.
Those whom are unable to sympathize with the families of a murderer should know that capital punishment does not necessarily deter criminals from committing heinous crimes. The facts prove states that abide by the death penalty have more murders than states that do not promote capital punishment. According to The Death Penalty Information Center, for every 100,000 people, 5.5 of them are murdered in states with the death penalty, whereas only 3.6 were murdered in states without the death penalty. In 2006, the murder rate of non-death penalty states was an astonishing 40% lower than states with the death penalty. As the facts prove, there is a significant difference between the murder rates of pro-death penalty and non-death penalty states.
In agreement, capital punishment is unethical and does not deter criminals from committing crimes; however, some ignorant United States citizens believe that there is a money issue. Many Americans assume that killing a murderer is less expensive than sentencing a criminal to life in prison. They believe that the cost of meals, showers, and the housing of an inmate is more expensive than killing them; however, this is untrue. The state of Florida estimated that in the period between 1973 and 1988, they had spent $57 million dollars for 18 executions. This means that they spent approximately $3.2 million dollars for each execution. Florida also estimated that a prisoner would cost them $17,000 per year, meaning that if a person lived in prison for 40 years, that it would only cost the state about $680,000. Florida is not the only state that has recorded this information. Many states have done similar studies, including North Carolina, which spends $2.16 million dollars more for an execution over the cost of imprisonment for life.
I have heard citizens that agree with the death penalty express that the prisons in the United States are overcrowded and that this leads to poor treatment of the prisoners. People think that capital punishment helps keep our prisons from becoming overcrowded. How can a person be concerned about the care of inmates, but not care about a person's life? These citizens are busy promoting the killing of murderers, yet they care about the wellbeing of prisoners and want them to have enough space. If a prisoner not having enough space is unethical, then capital punishment must also be unethical. Fred Pitts, a man found innocent after spending time on death row, describes these people as a “bunch of ignorant, backwoods, redneck clowns bent on vengeance.”
When someone murders another person, our government kills him or her. That is the only instance in which (most of) America punishes the offender in the same fashion of the crime of which he or she committed. If a person steals one thousand dollars from me, does the government take one thousand dollars from him? If I shoot a person in the leg, does the government shoot me in the leg also? These suggestions are preposterous; yet, in spite of this, does it not seem that the law of capital punishment is saying “an eye for an eye?” If capital punishment was the “right thing to do,” every state that abides by this law should contemplate the thought that it is the only regulation of its kind. This is another example of why capital punishment is unethical.
Some people believe that abiding by capital punishment is one area in which the United States could use some work. Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton, the bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit, Michigan states, “When you execute someone, you destroy the very basis of being an ethical person yourself.” Although this statement is about individuals, I believe that the bishop was also talking about the United States as a whole. When the United States executes a prisoner, it portrays that our country is unethical. If the United States is the most powerful nation in the world, why is it so corrupt and unethical? America should “set the example” and help promote an ethical world. With so much wrong in the world today, the United States should be the first country that tries to make the world a better place. Over 135 countries have abolished the death penalty since 2007.
I believe that capital punishment is both unfair and unjust. Americans should realize that killing others, no matter how bad they deserve it, is wrong. In my opinion, the alternative of life in prison is a much better solution for the criminal, the criminal's families, and for the United States of America. With so much death in the world today, capital punishment is the last thing Americans should support.
