Capital Punishment
What would happen if capital punishment were illegal? There are 3,002 death row inmates in the United States as of April 25, 2015 (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_death_row_inmates). The United States is highly ranked when it comes to executing prisoners. It is a highly debated issue in America for various reasons, but capital punishment is unnecessary, unproductive and should be terminated. It is more beneficial to keep death row prisoners in prison for life instead of executing them. Studying death row prisoners can help solve problems. Studying why the death row prisoner did the crime in the first place could help reduce the crime from occurring again in the future. Studying the characteristics and traits of death row prisoners can help in profiling criminals. An increased knowledge of mental illness from studying death row prisoners can help treat or reduce the number of people with mental illnesses. Studying common mental illnesses found among criminals …show more content…
An estimated 4% of defendants on death row are innocent of the charges against them.(http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/28/death-penalty-study-4-percent-defendants-innocent) Even after execution, new development of DNA evidence can reveal a death row prisoner 's innocence; the Johnny Garrett case is a great example. Some prosecutors will push for a capital punishment conviction even though they know the defendant is innocent. They do not want to look bad and possibly ruin their reputation or career; Joe Freeman Britt is just one example of a prosecutor who didn 't care about the defendant 's innocence but only of himself. Making capital punishment illegal and sentencing criminals to life in prison would eliminate innocent people from being executed, eliminate the state from committing the inhumane act of murder, and eliminate the disproportional death penalty convictions based on race and
What would happen if capital punishment were illegal? There are 3,002 death row inmates in the United States as of April 25, 2015 (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_death_row_inmates). The United States is highly ranked when it comes to executing prisoners. It is a highly debated issue in America for various reasons, but capital punishment is unnecessary, unproductive and should be terminated. It is more beneficial to keep death row prisoners in prison for life instead of executing them. Studying death row prisoners can help solve problems. Studying why the death row prisoner did the crime in the first place could help reduce the crime from occurring again in the future. Studying the characteristics and traits of death row prisoners can help in profiling criminals. An increased knowledge of mental illness from studying death row prisoners can help treat or reduce the number of people with mental illnesses. Studying common mental illnesses found among criminals …show more content…
An estimated 4% of defendants on death row are innocent of the charges against them.(http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/28/death-penalty-study-4-percent-defendants-innocent) Even after execution, new development of DNA evidence can reveal a death row prisoner 's innocence; the Johnny Garrett case is a great example. Some prosecutors will push for a capital punishment conviction even though they know the defendant is innocent. They do not want to look bad and possibly ruin their reputation or career; Joe Freeman Britt is just one example of a prosecutor who didn 't care about the defendant 's innocence but only of himself. Making capital punishment illegal and sentencing criminals to life in prison would eliminate innocent people from being executed, eliminate the state from committing the inhumane act of murder, and eliminate the disproportional death penalty convictions based on race and