“An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind” was a very powerful quote once said by Mahatma Ghandi. The death penalty applies to this quote very well. There are alternative punishments for the the government to use on criminals. The Death Penalty should be abolished because it is unconstitutional, it is inhumane, it doesn 't deter violent crime.
The death penalty should be abolished because it is unconstitutional. The 8th amendment forbids the government from using “cruel or unusual” punishments (Is the death penalty constitutional?). What punishment is more cruel or unusual than death? Taking someone 's life away is the ultimate punishment. This reason is important because the death penalty clearly doesn 't follow what the 8th amendment states. …show more content…
The government killing someone over a crime is absurd. The only thing that they are doing is adding to the problem. If someone is put to death because they murdered someone, you end up having two people dead instead of just one. There are plenty of other ways to punish criminals that are not so barbaric. We have things like life imprisonment without parole. This would allow the criminal to not only get to live, but prevent them from doing any other crimes. This also follows the 5th amendment which is right to life as well as the 8th amendment which is the government cannot do any harsh or cruel punishments. Justice is brought this way too without more deaths occurring. Also, life without parole allows mistakes to be corrected whereas once the death penalty has been inflicted. It is a fact that “41% of the population would choose the death penalty over a sentence of life without parole coupled with restitution to the victim 's family” (deathpenaltyinfo.org). This means that more people are already on the side of against the death penalty. Since 1996, the decline of people in favor of the death penalty has gone down drastically. The death penalty is inhumane because there are cases where the execution has led to a lot of pain and suffering. For example, “Clayton Locket walked into the execution room, took a seat and was strapped down from head to toe. He was injected with a triple-drug cocktail, and at the point where he should have gone unconscious, he instead experienced a seizure. Struggling against the restraints, he said, “Something’s wrong” (Zakeri). Obviously this has to be classified as inhumane and barbaric because this is basically torture. If you 're going to sentence someone to death the least you can do is make it quick and painless. In this case this person had to suffer through a seizure which is definitely inhumane. The death penalty is definitely unjust and
The death penalty should be abolished because it is unconstitutional. The 8th amendment forbids the government from using “cruel or unusual” punishments (Is the death penalty constitutional?). What punishment is more cruel or unusual than death? Taking someone 's life away is the ultimate punishment. This reason is important because the death penalty clearly doesn 't follow what the 8th amendment states. …show more content…
The government killing someone over a crime is absurd. The only thing that they are doing is adding to the problem. If someone is put to death because they murdered someone, you end up having two people dead instead of just one. There are plenty of other ways to punish criminals that are not so barbaric. We have things like life imprisonment without parole. This would allow the criminal to not only get to live, but prevent them from doing any other crimes. This also follows the 5th amendment which is right to life as well as the 8th amendment which is the government cannot do any harsh or cruel punishments. Justice is brought this way too without more deaths occurring. Also, life without parole allows mistakes to be corrected whereas once the death penalty has been inflicted. It is a fact that “41% of the population would choose the death penalty over a sentence of life without parole coupled with restitution to the victim 's family” (deathpenaltyinfo.org). This means that more people are already on the side of against the death penalty. Since 1996, the decline of people in favor of the death penalty has gone down drastically. The death penalty is inhumane because there are cases where the execution has led to a lot of pain and suffering. For example, “Clayton Locket walked into the execution room, took a seat and was strapped down from head to toe. He was injected with a triple-drug cocktail, and at the point where he should have gone unconscious, he instead experienced a seizure. Struggling against the restraints, he said, “Something’s wrong” (Zakeri). Obviously this has to be classified as inhumane and barbaric because this is basically torture. If you 're going to sentence someone to death the least you can do is make it quick and painless. In this case this person had to suffer through a seizure which is definitely inhumane. The death penalty is definitely unjust and