By Fernando Garcia-Ruiz
In our justice system, capital punishment is the “worst” punishment for a crime, which means the execution of a criminal after being convicted. Criminals sentenced to death are usually criminals who have committed murder, genocide, or killing or kidnapping a person of power. Many believe a death sentence is the best to deal with these types of criminals but in reality, it isn't.
One argument is that giving criminals a death sentence is essentially an “easy way out.” This is because if a criminal is sentenced to death, they will not get to experience jail or isolation. When people want justice they want the punishment that will give criminals the worst experience.
Jail is not a pretty place and it is a place for criminals for a reason. But criminals who commit severe crimes are usually hidden away from other inmates and do not get to see the outside world. This is the worst punishment one could have. Not death, but the feeling of loneliness in a place where you are treated like an animal.
If people want justice do not just kill them off. Instead, send them to a place where they will be forced to relive and rethink the crime they have done and live the rest of their lives in regret and sorrow. In fact, sites.psu.edu states “Some criminals that commit crime so severe ultimately prefer that instead of living the rest of their life in a prison.” Criminals prefer to be executed since the execution is quick and ultimately painless.
Another argument is if the criminal was wrongly convicted. Take for example Derrick Jamison, he was sentenced to death after being convicted of murder. Then new evidence was found that a district attorney illegally withheld evidence from the defense.
He explained the feeling of the day he was going to be executed before being released after new evidence was found. He explains how the guards even felt bad for him and some even cried. This shows how unfair the situation was.
Imagine how many people are wrongly convicted and sentenced to death. Imagine all those people who didn't get saved like Derrick Jamison did.
Sentencing inmates to death is cruel and inhumane. Yes, some of these criminals have done some horrible things but people do not get to decide who dies and who lives. We do not get to take a human life just because we think one deserves it.
Criminals who have committed severe crimes should be sent to isolation where they will never see the sun again. Here they will reflect on their mistakes and get the treatment they need. This treatment is not so that they can be set free but so that they can better their mentality and hopefully come to a realization and see the horrible act that they have committed.
Another argument to be made could be people are for the death penalty as they require tax dollars to sustain their life if they have a life sentence which many value money more than a criminal
I think that giving inmates death penalty could be considered an "easy way out" but it may be a more efficient way to get rid of really bad criminals.
Allowing inmates to basically take the easy way out with the death penalty just doesn't compare to spending life in isolation at Death row. Death penalty also just seems outdated compare to punishments now days.
I agree, the death penalty is more or less just freeing an inmate from the burden of their crime. I’m sure cic and families of victims of crimes would much rather the convict be in prison than dead. Not only that but I believe no human on earth has the right to take a life from another, regardless of their actions, we are all equal and allowing for the death penalty speaks volumes about our volumes.
I completely agree, the death penalty is outdated and unethical. Although some punishments may never fit the crime, if we punish murderers by "legally" and "safely" killing them, what kind of message does that send? It also keeps the door wide open to sending a completely innocent person to death, which although doesn't happen often, it still has and will continue to happen. This should not even be a worry in this country, but still is. Abolish the death penalty!