Death. It is the one thing other than birth that all humans have in common. It can come in all different ways. You may know it's coming or it might be a complete surprise. You can die from natural causes, car crashes, freak accidents, and murder. The death penalty goes along with that last cause of death, murder. I understand that people feel that since the criminal killed someone that they should have the same fate, but that doesn't make it any less like murder now does it?
In the United States, 31 states have the death penalty. Michigan was the first state to abolish it in 1846, and Maryland was the last in 2015. The death penalty can include; lethal injection, gas chamber, firing squad, electric chair and hanging. Today the most common form of execution is lethal injection. The point of lethal injection is to make the prisoner go down with little to no pain. If people feel that the death penalty is a way to punish prisoners, why would they want them to be killed with little to no pain? Now I'm not saying I think we should torture people, but I feel being stuck in prison for life is punishment enough.
If we just kill these criminals how is that justice? How is that closure for the families? I know if it were me who had a loved one murdered by a monster I'd want to make sure they paid for it by living their life in maximum security prison, knowing there was no way out. Killing them would just be too easy, and be like letting them take the easy way out.
Other than letting them take the easy way out, if we kill a murderer how does that make us any better than the murderer themselves? Easy, it doesn't. I could not live with myself if I made the decision to end someone's life. I cry enough as is when I accidentally hit a deer while driving, and that deer lives.
Courts get cases wrong all the time. People get framed, evidence gets misplaced or damaged, the court system is not perfect. What happens when one of those cases results in the death penalty and an innocent man or woman is executed? How do you think that would look for our country if the truth got out? Not only that, but the guilt would eat away at those jurors. Since 1973, over 156 people have been exonerated and freed from death row. One of those cases was that of Delbert Tibbs, who was arrested for murder and rape. He remained in prison for three years before the court remanded his case and reversed the decision on the grounds that the verdict was not supported by evidence. Tibbs was one of the lucky ones, and was able to get out before it was too late. What about the ones that don't get out in time?
All these reasons are why the death penalty needs to be illegal. It's not our job to decide how someone dies. Do you really want to be the cause of someone's death? Because I know I don't.
