Forty-eight hours before his scheduled execution, a death row inmate is proven innocent. No, this isn't a scene from a movie. This really happened to Anthony Porter, who was convicted of shooting a couple dead on 1982. Capital punishment has long been a controversial issue. At one point it was against the law throughout the U.S., but at present it is allowed in many states, especially southern ones. However, Massachusetts does not currently have the death penalty. Massachusetts should continue without capital punishment, and other states should abolish it as well.
There are many reasons why the death penalty isn't a good thing. For one thing, not everyone who commits a terrible crime will be sentenced to the death penalty. There are different juries for different cases, and as a result it is possible for a man who committed a horrible crime to be sentenced to life imprisonment, and a man with a lesser crime to receive death. Out of all the people convicted of criminal homicide, only two per cent are sentenced to death.
Also, it is cruel and unusual punishment. The case of Jimmy Lee Gray in the Mississippi Gas Chamber is just one of many examples. On September 2, 1983, he died banging his head on a steel pole in the gas chamber. Outside, reporters counted his moans. The eighth amendment of the United States Constitution forbids cruel and unusual punishment, therefore, capital punishment should be against the law.
Another major argument against capital punishment is that it sets a bad example for the people. When the government sends the message that it is okay to kill a person if they've done bad enough deeds, the people think that they should be able to kill a person if that person has done things as horrible as others have been executed for. They may go out and kill of injure people because of the influence of the death penalty. As a result, crime actually increases. It does not decrease because people are afraid of the death penalty. After all, what criminal plans on getting caught?
Perhaps the most compelling reason to vote against the death penalty is the possibility that innocent people can be convicted. Obviously, juries aren't perfect. They're made of regular people, and everyone makes mistakes. And once a person's convicted, who's looking for proof that they didn't commit the crime? However, in some cases people do continue to look for evidence. Since 1970, 59 people have been proven innocent and released from death row. And not every innocent person has been proven innocent before their execution. In this century, at least 23 people have been proven innocent after their executions. Alex Kozinski, of the federal appeals court, said ``I dread the day we are confronted with a case in which the conclusive proof of innocence turns up too late.''
Massachusetts should continue to use life imprisonment and other solutions instead of
capital punishment, and other states should follow our example.
This page has information on what's currently happening with capital punishment.
Do you have any questions or comments on my essay? Are any of my links inactive? Do you have any other links for me? Click here to write me.