Abolish The Death Penalty: Not An Effective Way To Deter Crime

Some people whose lives get taken deserve to live another day, but how does the feeling of revenge give one the right to take the life of another? People should “emphasize mercy rather than revenge” (Bowman). Just because someone made a mistake does not mean that their life needs to be taken in a heartbeat. The death penalty does not let people reflect and fix their mistakes, in fact, it gives them no time at all. There is no humane way to kill anyone, especially when dealing with the death penalty. Although some think the death penalty is a fair and deserved punishment, it is a cruel and flawed discipline that should be abolished.

The death penalty has some flaws, and one of them is that it can possibly lead to the death of a innocent person. The death penalty is proven to result in the deaths of not guilty people. The death penalty is imperfect because “[It is] irreversible. Absolute judgements may lead to people paying for crimes they did not commit”(“5 Reasons to Abolish the Death Penalty”). The death penalty has way to many cases that involve innocent people who are accused and punished for anothers actions. A not guilty suspect was accused and killed for someone else's mistake. Shortly after the death, more evidence determined that the subject did not kill his daughters. This man was not at fault, but paid for the mistake of another, “ Following [Cameron Willingham’s] execution, further evidence revealed that Willingham did not set the fire that caused their[his three daughters] deaths. But it came to late” (“5 Reasons to Abolish the Death Penalty”). Cameron Willingham paid for the mistakes of another man, but he was not at fault. He lost his life for no reason. Now his family's lives will be completely different because they have lost him in a tragedy. Something needs to be done to ensure that another innocent person will not lose their life. The death penalty is at blame for the death of pure people, and it does not show an impact of the effectiveness on other criminals.

The death penalty does not deter criminals, in fact staying locked up in prison shows to be more effective. People are charged with execution when they do something awful however some people are just charged with time in prison which proves to be more effective on lowering the rates of crimes being committed, “Since abolishing the death penalty in 1976, Canada’s murder rate has steadily declined, and as of 2016 was at it’s lowest since 1966” (“5 Reasons to Abolish the Death Penalty”). Execution is not as effective as some may think because it does not prove to be any more impactful in declining crimes compared to being charged with time in prison. There is no credible evidence that execution helps with murder rates. In fact, states without the death penalty have a lower murder rate than states that allow the death penalty. Execution is not proven to drop the amount of crimes committed (“5 Reasons to Abolish the Death Penalty”). The death penalty is a unessacary punishment because it does not change nthe numbers of crimes being committed, and it also ends up executing people who are mentally ill.

Mentally ill people are unable to completely participate in their trials which can lead to them being executed. Mentally ill suspects have a hard time thinking straight and speaking in trials (“The Facts: 13 Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty”). They also have a lot of twitches that can make them look like they are nervous, causing them to seem guilty of a crime that they possibly did not commit, “Mental illness also affects a defendants’ decisions to represent themselves. Their ability to work with the counsel and jury’s perceptions of their motives [is fatal]... ” (“Mental Illness”). People who struggle with mental illnesses struggle to speak and defend themselves at a trial which can affect the jury’s decision of what needs to be done. Mentaly ill suspects struggle focusing on trials which can impact what they say and how the jury interprets it. The way the jury feels about a mentally ill patient can also affect the decision they have to make. Many people are scared and feel threatened by mentally ill patients, which may have an outcome on what the jury wants to happen. Mentally ill people may be charged with execution based on the perception some of the jury members may have, “... [the jury or counsel may think] whether they pose a future danger to society if they are [only] sentenced to prison” (“Mental Illness”). The jury may fear that if they only sentence a mentally ill patient to prison it might cause future danger because they will eventually be released. The may be concerned with the complications they can cause again when they are released which may affect their choice on what to do. Mentally ill patients should be considered a little more when it comes to the punishments they receive due to the crime they have committed.

Some believe we should keep the Death Penalty because they want people to pay for what they did. When someone loses a loved one to a murderer they get angry and want revenge. People believe that if “they did the crime they should do the time” (“Counterpoint: The Death Penalty is Necessary”). Studies also say that “the threat of death forces people to reform” (“5 Reasons to Abolish the Death Penalty”). People do not believe they should get the right to live. This is why many believe that execution is necessary. However, all executions violate the right to live, so why are people not defending human rights? Some believe that bad people should be executed but “how does the permitted killing of the murderer make it right?” (“Counterpoint: The Death Penalty is Necessary”). Purposely killing someone for their mistakes is not a good way to handle a situation, and whoever is in charge of an execution is now a murderer themselves. Therefore, the death penalty should be abolished because purposely executing a human is not is not valuable or important for our country.

The death penalty is a imperfect, brutel punishment that should be put to an end. Executing a person can have many fatal mistakes involved that can affect the lives of many. Everyone makes mistakes in their life, there is no one who does not, so why are we immediately taking lives away? Their mistake may have been bigger and worse than others, but executing them does not fix the problem. Executing someone for their mistakes is horrifying, wrong, and pointless because it does not change what has happened. The Death Penalty takes away lives, but it does not bring the ones who lost theirs back, “Execute justice, not people”(Lamb).