The United States, one of the most modern and influential countries in the world, prides itself in its doctrines of freedom, in its foreign policies, in its position of leadership in the global community. We think of ourselves as so civilized and politically aware, as we disapprove of sweatshops and discrimination in other parts of the world.
However, the United States continues to practice one of the most barbaric and cruel punishments possible: the death penalty. We're one of only 87 countries that still allow such a practice: premeditated murder carried out by the government. One hundred and eight countries have abolished capital punishment, but only 12 of our 50 states have refused it as a form of justice.
Indeed, it's rather strange that a country as "progressive" as ours would condone revengeful killing; the death penalty clearly violates our Constitution's eighth amendment as well as international laws.
Regarding criminal cases, the eighth amendment states: "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." Annotations clarify that such punishments specifically include torturous deaths such as beheading and burning alive.
And the Supreme Court, though not consistent in its decisions regarding capital punishment, has previously ruled that the death penalty does violate the eighth amendment (such as in the Furman v. Georgia case, for example). The Supreme Court should always rule as such; for how can anything be crueler than deliberate murder?
These premeditated executions provide for extended torture: not only the death itself, but the time waiting on death row. "A prisoner lives with the penalty of death hanging over [his or her] head from the moment he or she is sentenced to the moment of unconsciousness and death," according to the Amnesty International website against the death penalty.
Furthermore, even the so-called humane methods of execution, primarily lethal injection, are certainly not proven painless. Lots of other "cruel" deaths could be considered quick and painless, too, but they're not regularly practiced as forms of justice. The death penalty "is the ultimate denial of human rights," according to Amnesty International. "It is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment."
More concretely, the use of the death penalty is not protected under international law. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the United Nations in 1948, prohibits such punishment. Not only that, The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as The Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty both call for the abolition of capital punishment.
It's time for the United States to catch up with the rest of the world and end this violent form of "justice." The death penalty improves nothing; it only ignores the rights of humans.
Proponents of capital punishment may argue that such a harsh penalty will deter future violent crime, that killing a few convicts is no big deal because it will prevent future murders. But UN studies updated as recently as 1996 show that "countries need not fear sudden and serious changes in the curve of crime if they reduce their reliance upon the death penalty" (as quoted by Amnesty International).
In Canada, for example, the homicide rate was 3.09 per 100,000 with the death penalty (in 1975), and then fell to 2.41 in 1980 (without the death penalty). Clearly, capital punishment is not an effective deterrent there.
Plus -- contrary to widespread myths -- the cost of litigation in a capital case is generally more than the cost of imprisoning someone for life, according to the anti death penalty website. Not only a drain on the economy, capital cases, with their appeals, tie up the courts and wreak havoc in the legal system.
If anything, the death penalty serves to enhance discrimination and allows for the killing of innocent prisoners.
Amnesty International reports that the death penalty "is often used disproportionately against the poor, minorities and members of racial, ethnic and religious communities." It can be used by governments to silence minority voices and to foster oppression.
Perhaps most shockingly, since 1973 over 85 prisoners have been released from death row, found innocent and wrongly convicted. Life sentences allow prisoners to be released in case of mistake, but death sentences do not. Had the errors not been found in time, those 85 innocent people could have been murdered by our government.
Because it serves no positive purpose (it costs too much, fails to deter crime, discriminates against minorities and kills the innocent), the death penalty should be abolished. An execution does not condemn murder, and such revengeful violence does not belong in this world.
