The Pros And Cons Of The Death Penalty

Is the death penalty immoral? In the United States, if a human being commits a capital crime, they can receive the punishment of execution administered by that state in which they performed that crime. When someone commits a capital crime, the jury can issue a guilty verdict that is punishable by death by lethal injection or electrocution. The death penalty, an extremely controversial topic is debated daily among individuals. Determining fair punishment for committing a crime causes one to question their ethical and moral beliefs on the treatment of a human who is responsible for taking another individual's life. When comparing whether or not the death penalty is immoral or not we must consider various facts and concerns.

The death penalty

The DPIC facts show that Florida and Illinois lead the states in wrongful guilty sentencing. Several inmates have been acquitted mostly due to DNA evidence that was not available for testing at the time of the trial. DNA testing became available in 1989 and was used to exonerate the first wrongfully accused inmate in the United States. The second argument for those against the death penalty is racial profiling of African Americans as the perpetrator. “According to Amnesty International, more than 20% of black defendants executed since 1976 were convicted by all-white juries. Of the over 1,400 executions that have taken place in this country’s history, only 42 involved a white person being punished for killing a black person” (Campaign to End the Death Penalty). Contrary to those statements, however, are the DPIC statistics that reflect 55.5% of inmates executed were white and only 34.5% were black. The DPIC also states “over 75% of the murder victims in cases resulting in execution were white, even though nationally only 50% of murder victims are white.” The Innocence Project, an organization, founded in 1992 dedicates itself to exonerating people who are wrongfully convicted. They use DNA testing as a way to prove innocence with a mission to reform the criminal justice system to prevent future

“Proponents say despite expenses incurred by the government from imposing capital punishment, death penalty is still cheaper compared to the costs of life without parole. Although there is no contention that the cost of the former is high, life imprisonment is accumulatively higher given the expenses for food, health care and other costs of sustaining the lives of incarcerated individuals serving life.” (Green Garage). As stated in the quote, it would be resourceful to sentence the individuals to the death penalty due to the amount of money associated with life in prison. Capital punishment is also the best way to limit reoccurrence of a crime. By executing the defendant it helps ensure that murderers will never kill again. The families of those who have lost their life usually want the accuser to pay for the act of violence that occurred allowing them never to be able to hurt anyone again. By taking the individual off of the street, it provides a sense of safety for the victim’s family and the community. Additionally, technology has advanced DNA testing, and it is now often used as evidence for criminal convictions. Before DNA testing, criminal cases were conducted based on circumstantial evidence that may or may not be committed by the individual. With the advancement of DNA testing, the court system can correctly convict