From the guillotine in the 1700s to the lethal injection in modern times, capital punishment has had an impact on people all over the world for ages. This punishment set by the government has affected many people in our country. Many families and individuals have also been affected by capital punishment not only in the United States but also in countries on the other side of the world. Because of this, there is great controversy around this topic. The death penalty is morally degrading and should be abolished because it is expensive, it executes innocent people, and the system has become corrupt and racist.

Capital punishment is defined as the practice of killing people as punishment for serious crimes. Capital punishment goes way back to the time of the Romans. The Romans used a form of execution that involved a long, drawn out death where the person was submerged in water until they died of starvation or shock (History of the Death Penalty 1). Hanging became a widely used method in the tenth century (History of the Death Penalty 2). In the past, the death penalty has been used to punish crimes less serious than murder. Some of the crimes punishable by death penalty in Britain “includ[ed] stealing, cutting down a tree, and robbing a rabbit warren” (History of the Death Penalty 3). Many people agreed that these crimes were not worthy of death. Because of the extreme methods that were used, “many juries would not convict defendants” and sentence them to death (Death Penalty History 3). Now, it is widely agreed upon that the death penalty should only be punishment for very serious crimes and should be done in a humane way.

The death penalty came to the United States along with the British settlers. The British method of capital punishment was adopted by the colonies in America. In the United States during “1966, support for capital punishment reached an all-time low” (Death Penalty History 16). Only 42% of the United States citizens believed that there should be any form of the death penalty (Death Penalty History 16). Capital punishment then began to regain its popularity in 1977 (Ballaro 1). The death penalty has put to death “nearly 1,100 convicted prisoners” in the United States since that time. There are 38 states that still practice capital punishment (Ballaro 1).

Supporters of the death penalty strongly believe that punishment for crimes as serious as murder should be dealt with by execution. They believe that to “sentence killers…to less than death would fail to do justice because the penalty – presumably a long period in prison – would be grossly disproportionate to the heinousness of the crime” (ProCon.org Edward Feser). Murder is an incredibly serious crime. There is no doubt in their minds that the death penalty is a just punishment. Supporters of the death penalty often say, “whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image” (Genesis 9:6). Antonin Scalia says, “I would not presume to tell parents whose life has been forever altered by the brutal murder of a child that life imprisonment is punishment enough.” For the family of the victim of this horrendous crime, they may never feel as though any punishment but death is severe enough.

The death penalty was put in place as a punishment for very serious crimes. Murdering someone is morally wrong to most people. When the government sets in a place a punishment as final and serious as execution, people are often deterred from committing the crime. They believe that the punishment of death for the life they are taking is not worth it.

As in any moral conflict, there are people on the other side of the argument. They believe the death penalty should be abolished. One of their main points is that the death penalty system costs a great deal of money for the United States. A misconception that many supporters of the death penalty have is “that the death penalty saves money because executed defendants no longer have to be cared for at the state’s expense” (ProCon.org Richard C. Dieter). This would only be the true if the amount of money that it took was measured only from the day of the execution. Richard C. Dieter also says, “as every prosecutor, defense attorney, and judge knows, the costs of a capital case begin long before the sentence is carried out. Experienced prosecutors and defense attorneys must be assigned and begin a long period of investigation and pre-trial hearings. Jury selection, the trial itself, and initial appeals will consume years of time and enormous amounts of money before an execution is on the horizon.” There is a lot of time, money, and resources put into each case from the time of the trial to the execution. The cost of this process is significantly higher than the cost of life in prison.

Capital punishment causes the death of many innocent people. Many prisoners on death row are not guilty of the crime they are said to have commited. In 1992 a clinic founded by Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, the Innocence Project was born. This project helped exonerate many prisoners from death row. It introduced DNA testing for the first time. Inmates that regained their lost freedom from this project had “served a total of 2,475 years in prison for crimes they hadn’t committed” (Ballaro 15). Before DNA testing was a part of the legal system, there were most likely many death row prisoners who were not guilty but were executed anyway. There are many easy ways for prisoners to be wrongfully convicted. Some of these include “a combination of factors, such as police misconduct or investigative errors, unreliable witnesses or false testimony, negligence, forensic errors and even false confessions” (14). A person should not be put to death when factors such as these could easily skew a trial and the penalty that a person receives.

Racism is a huge problem in the United States legal system and capital punishment is not excluded. People on trial who “kill white people are far more likely to receive a death sentence than those whose victims were not white” (Ballaro 9). Not only does this show a bias and corruptness in our legal system but also as society as a whole. Research also shows that “black people who kill white people have the greatest chance of receiving a death sentence” (Ballaro 9). Seeing this bias towards people of color should raise a humongous red flag. There should not be a punishment so extreme as death if the system that decides who is worthy of life is racist. Many prisoners on death row are poor African Americans that have already been told by our society that their lives are not worth as much as the lives of the rich white men that live in the gated neighborhoods. The fact that nearly 40% of death row inmates are African American shows that there is a harmful bias in the legal system (9). These people often don’t have the resources like lawyers to defend them. Because of this, they do not have proper representation that richer people recieve.

The death penalty is immoral. There is no hope for society and its morals if capital punishment continues. It is not the place of humans to be God for others. People should not have the capability to decide who is worthy of life and who is worthy of death. If we, as Christians, believe that unborn babies are humans and don’t deserve death, we should also believe that we have the right to execute prisoners. The Bible says, “you shall not murder” (English Standard Version, Exodus 21:12). When supporter of capital punishment use Genesis 9:6, they often forget that times have changed. There are laws in the Old Testament that are not supported by Christians today because they were focused on the people of the covenant that God had with Abraham. God is the one who should be in charge of punishments today. He is the only one who is all knowing enough to judge other people’s fate. We should not try to get revenge on the murderers. What they did was very wrong, but society needs to focus on things other than hate and killing.

There is no question as to whether or not the death penalty is wrong. Because of the corruption in the legal system that convicts people wrongfully or for their race, capital punishment should be abolished. If there is even the slightest chance that someone who is innocent would be executed, there should not be a death penalty.

The death penalty is expensive, executes innocent people, and the system has become corrupt and racist; therefore the death penalty is morally degrading and should be abolished. Capital punishment is a cruel and unusual punishment. We should not, as humans, be able to decide the fate of other human beings. It is morally degrading, and unless we make a change, there is no hope for our society.

Works Cited

Ballaro, Beverly. “Capital Punishment Should Be Abolished.” Points of View Reference Center

http://web.b.ebscohost.com/pov/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=6c9a2a63-2736-436b-a4c7-60

6b9e962db8%40pdc-v-sessmgr02&bdata=JnNpdGU9cG92LWxpdmU%3d#AN=26612

501&d

Bowman, Jeffrey. “The Death Penalty Is Necessary.” Points of View Reference Center, 2011,

doi:10.3789/isqv23n2.2011.07.http://web.b.ebscohost.com/pov/detail/detail?vid=2&sid

=ea9ffca1-3659-41d1-8c99-b00e8dc5ce8f%40pdc-v-sessmgr04&bdata=JnNpdGU9cG

92LWxpdmU%3d#AN=26612346&db=pwh

“BibleGateway.” Acts 3:9-10 NIV – – Bible Gateway, Bible Gateway Blog,

www.biblegateway.com/.

“Death Penalty.” Millions Misspent: What Politicians Don’t Say About the High Costs of the

Death Penalty | Death Penalty Information Center, Death Penalty Info,

deathpenaltyinfo.org/.

“Part I: History of the Death Penalty.” Millions Misspent: What Politicians Don’t Say About the

High Costs of the Death Penalty | Death Penalty Information Center, Death Penalty

Information Center, deathpenaltyinfo.org/part-i-history-death-penalty.

ProCon.org. “Top 10 Pro & Con Arguments.” ProCon.org. 9 Dec. 2016,

deathpenalty.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=002000