Summary:
Debates the issue of capital punishment. Questions if the state has the right to decide who lives and who dies. Compares life in prison without parole to capital punishment.
I live in a state where capital punishment is still being practiced. In fact, I live thirty minutes away from a prison that executes the death penalty. Are we playing God by controlling who does not deserve to live? How can we kill anyone who is no longer a threat to the society? Most have committed terrible crimes in order to get the death penalty, but there are those that were wrongfully convicted. The law system is not perfect, it will never be perfect. Sure, they can get numerous appeals before they are executed. If there is no new evidence or new technology to prove their innocence, there is no use in giving them any number of tries before being executed. It was said that it cost more to execute the death penalty (from the time of arrest to the time of execution) than to give them life without the possibility of parole. As technology increases, we have more tools that we can use for forensic investigation. The birth of DNA in forensic helped save at least one of the inmates on death row in California that was wrongfully convicted. If you wrongfully convicted someone, you can set them free. If you wrongfully executed someone, you can not reverse the process. We have all done things in the past that we were not proud of and would never do it again; at least I had. The ability to reform is in all of us. There are other ways to punish the people on death row in California other than the path of death penalty. Nothing is set in stones but death.
The law system isn't perfect. It's a bias game. If you have money, you are less likely to receive capitol punishment. If you are Caucasian looking, you are less likely to receive capitol punishment. If you are a woman, you are less likely to be executed. The mandatory capitol punishment is not right at all, there are circumstance that must be considered, but mandatory capitol punishment over looks all that. If your crime fits the capitol punishment and you are convicted, that's the end of the road for you. The only thing mandatory is one plus one equals two.
The average cost to house an inmate is $26894 according to the California Department of Correction. It might seem like it cost less to execute someone than to give them a life sentence. The real cost in capitol punishment is related to numerous court reviews, hearings, and appeals.
As technology advances, we are able to test on things that we had no way of testing before. A little over 100 years ago, finger printing was invented. Before finger printing was invented, there were more wrongful convictions. Many years ago, the only tests for blood in forensic was only by blood types. There are practically millions of people in any given blood type. A couple decades ago, DNA started to be used for forensic investigation. At that time, you needed a good sized sample for DNA tests. Today, you only need a very small amount of DNA sample because now we have the ability to duplicate DNA. In California, there has been at least one death row inmate that had his case over turned due to DNA evidence proving his innocence. As we move forward in this technology driven world, we can not predict what technologies will be invented in forms of forensic tests. We will never know what the next big leap in forensic science is; that is an unforeseen able future. Capital punishment ends in death that can not be undone, that is a foreseen able end.
The ability to reform is in everyone. Time can change many things. It can most definitely change the way you think. Some of these death row inmates committed the crime when they were only eighteen or so. So young that it's not even legal for them to drink alcohol. The average time it takes to carrying out the capitol punishment is about eleven years. In eleven years, people can change. In the past eleven years, I am sure that I have changed a lot, haven't you? If given the time, these people are capable of being reformed.
Is there ever a humane way to end anyone's life without their consent? I don't think so. I believe that no matter how terrible the crime is, there is an alternative other than capitol punishment. Life in prison is a good enough way to punish anyone. Being confined for life is pretty much the end of life. Knowing that they will die within these four walls is cruel enough. I firmly believe that there is an exception to everything. In my opinion, there are some people who do deserve the capitol punishment. Capitol punishment should not be a mandatory sentence if the crime fits the bill. It should only be installed on the worst offenders of our time.
This is the complete article, containing 820 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page).
