The idea that we, as a nation, could send someone to death is hard for me to fathom. The thought of the emotional side of carrying out another person’s death is disgusting. It is my fond belief that the current use of the death penalty in our criminal justice system violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments in the United States Constitution, it is immoral, and the death penalty is an economic downside compared to life imprisonment.
One of the many reasons we should abolish the death penalty is because it clearly violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments in the United States Constitution. The Eighth Amendment states, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." By having a death penalty, we are clearly violating the “cruel and unusual punishments inflicted, part of the Constitution." The death penalty treats our citizens like rag dolls and nonessential; it is a pre-planned, cold-blooded lynching by our country’s criminal justice system, something our Founding Fathers did not intend on happening in our country. The Fourteenth Amendment, states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, are citizens of the United States. ...nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." In many cases, the discharge of the death penalty is based off of the defendant’s color of skin, gender, and/or sexuality. This type of bias clearly violates the Fourteenth Amendment which states every person will have equal protection under the law. Supporters of the death penalty might say, “But our Founding Fathers were okay with the death penalty when they wrote the Constitution.” The Founding Fathers were also okay with slavery; which is not okay in present-day.
Another reason we should repeal our current death penalty law is because it is immoral. As human beings, we should mourn every death. The only reason the death penalty was created is for revenge; murderers, drug addicts, and other various criminals are still humans. Revenge is never okay. We tell our kids now not to hold grudges but yet our justice system is set up that way. We should remember “Vengeance is mine, saith the lord, leave it unto me.” While supporters of the death penalty might say it is a great way for a murder victim’s family to seek closure. The comfort that the victim’s family gets from the execution is reasoned; that doesn’t make it any less inhumane than what we put the killer’s family through. It is legal murder but no better than cold blooded murder.
“Our criminal justice system is fallible. We know it, even though we don't like to admit it. It is fallible despite the best efforts of most within it to do justice. And this fallibility is, at the end of the day, the most compelling, persuasive, and winning argument against a death penalty.” - Eliot Spitzer
Only our God should decide if we should stay on this Earth, not our government.
