The death penalty is something that has been a controversial topic for plenty of years now. The death penalty or as some others call it “capital punishment” is the punishment of execution, administered to someone legally convicted of a capital crime. It’s the ongoing argument on rather or not this should be legal and if it’s human. There are a lot of people who believe that some criminals deserve to get the death penalty due to the severity of the crime that they committed. But there are also people who believe that we shouldn’t “play god” and decide who lives and who dies. I am someone who is against the death penalty because it is unethical and I believe it should be abolished from all of the states.
The death penalty or capital punishment others might say has been around as early as the Eighteenth Century BC. Put in effect by King Hammurabi of Babylon, there was twenty five different crimes that could result in you getting the death penalty as a punishment. Hanging was the method of choice by most Britain’s in the tenth century A.D. Britain’s crimes began to rise more and more that by the 1700’s there was almost about 222 crimes that you could receive the death penalty for, some crimes as simple as cutting down a tree and pick pocketing someone. The British are the ones who influenced America to start performing death penalties. When new settlers from Europe came to America they brought over their tradition on performing the death penalty. The first death penalty legally documented in America was of Captain George Kendall in 1906, he was executed for being a spy for Spain. As of today in America still are performing the death penalty with it being legal in 31 states. As of today there is a long going argument on rather or not the death penalty should still be legal or be a thing of the pass. There are a lot of people who believe that the death penalty should be abolished because once it’s done there is no going back, the death penalty isn’t always “fair” by this I mean sometimes a person would be on trial for a crime they didn’t commit, some death penalty trails are determined based off of a person’s race and the simple fact that it isn’t humane for another person to decide rather someone lives or die. The death penalty is such a serious matter because it’s something that you can never take back. Once you kill someone that’s it, no matter if they have changed their way and recognized what they did was wrong. Some might say what reason is there to kill someone? If a criminal is sentenced to life in jail with no patrol isn’t that enough? When you’re sentenced to life without patrol, not only do you have to stay in jail for the rest of your life with no chance of getting out. You have to sit and think every day why you’re not free that right there should be enough torture. Not to mention that a lot of times people are wrongly accused so there is a chance that you could be killing an innocent person. “The possibility of executing the innocent has …show more content…
Does your race determine rather or not you get put on death row? “Of the 3,859 persons executed for all crimes since 1930, 54.6 percent have been black or members of other racial minority groups. Of the 455 executed for rape alone, 89.5 percent have been nonwhite.23.” (Riedel & Wolfgang) Facts show that nonwhite citizens are not only more likely to be convicted of a crime but is also more likely to get executed. This is when an important question arise. Is the death penalty fair?” If there isn’t any fairness in deciding who gets the death penalty than why would we continue to let it be legal? “The rate at which eligible black defendants were sentenced to death was nearly 40% higher than the rate for other eligible defendants.” ( Dieter) People have been stating that the death penalty is racially driven for years now. “In 1972 Justices Douglas and Marshall explicitly suggested that the death penalty was being discriminatorily imposed against racial minority defendants.”
The death penalty or capital punishment others might say has been around as early as the Eighteenth Century BC. Put in effect by King Hammurabi of Babylon, there was twenty five different crimes that could result in you getting the death penalty as a punishment. Hanging was the method of choice by most Britain’s in the tenth century A.D. Britain’s crimes began to rise more and more that by the 1700’s there was almost about 222 crimes that you could receive the death penalty for, some crimes as simple as cutting down a tree and pick pocketing someone. The British are the ones who influenced America to start performing death penalties. When new settlers from Europe came to America they brought over their tradition on performing the death penalty. The first death penalty legally documented in America was of Captain George Kendall in 1906, he was executed for being a spy for Spain. As of today in America still are performing the death penalty with it being legal in 31 states. As of today there is a long going argument on rather or not the death penalty should still be legal or be a thing of the pass. There are a lot of people who believe that the death penalty should be abolished because once it’s done there is no going back, the death penalty isn’t always “fair” by this I mean sometimes a person would be on trial for a crime they didn’t commit, some death penalty trails are determined based off of a person’s race and the simple fact that it isn’t humane for another person to decide rather someone lives or die. The death penalty is such a serious matter because it’s something that you can never take back. Once you kill someone that’s it, no matter if they have changed their way and recognized what they did was wrong. Some might say what reason is there to kill someone? If a criminal is sentenced to life in jail with no patrol isn’t that enough? When you’re sentenced to life without patrol, not only do you have to stay in jail for the rest of your life with no chance of getting out. You have to sit and think every day why you’re not free that right there should be enough torture. Not to mention that a lot of times people are wrongly accused so there is a chance that you could be killing an innocent person. “The possibility of executing the innocent has …show more content…
Does your race determine rather or not you get put on death row? “Of the 3,859 persons executed for all crimes since 1930, 54.6 percent have been black or members of other racial minority groups. Of the 455 executed for rape alone, 89.5 percent have been nonwhite.23.” (Riedel & Wolfgang) Facts show that nonwhite citizens are not only more likely to be convicted of a crime but is also more likely to get executed. This is when an important question arise. Is the death penalty fair?” If there isn’t any fairness in deciding who gets the death penalty than why would we continue to let it be legal? “The rate at which eligible black defendants were sentenced to death was nearly 40% higher than the rate for other eligible defendants.” ( Dieter) People have been stating that the death penalty is racially driven for years now. “In 1972 Justices Douglas and Marshall explicitly suggested that the death penalty was being discriminatorily imposed against racial minority defendants.”