Back to Dark Ages? Thanks for the Proposal of the Death Penalty

Back to Dark Ages? Thanks for the proposal of the Death Penalty

The issues of whether the death penalty should be abolished is widely debated in the U.S. The reasons why death penalty should be abolished are discussed in this blog.

League of Women Voters of California

Death, killing, and revenge! Have you ever thought about these words when you hear about the death punishment? Or have you ever considered the death penalty is a good way to end violence and stop crime in the world? Whatever you think, the truth is that the death penalty is totally barbaric and not an effective and appropriate justice method.

The death penalty first denies the basic right of people that everyone has the right to live in the world. People have the right to survive in the world but those people sentenced to death have already lost the basic right. This is not humane at all! The chances of living in the world should be treasured, even if they made mistakes! The deliberate institutionalized taking of human life by the state is the greatest conceivable degradation to the dignity of the human personality.

Boston bombing

Let’s talk about the infamous tragic Boston bombing again together.  The infamous cool killing machine - Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who commits his crime for the Boston bombing is dramatically sent to life imprisonment ultimately. During that time period, thousands and millions people insist that he should be executed. However, the poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center for the Globe via random phone calls concludes that most Boston residents favor life imprisonment than the death penalty.

The Richards family lost their eight-year-old son in the bombing; Jennifer Lemmerman is the sister of slain MIT police; Bud Welch lost his 23-year-old daughter in the Oklahoma City Bombing. Whereas, these people remain against the death penalty after their relatives or close families had been killed. They certainly do not forgive the murders because of the irreparable agony of losing families and relatives; however, they didn't choose the death penalty for revenge because they know another killing doesn’t make a difference. It won’t bring back the dead, but it will only bring back revenge and hatred. Most importantly, such behavior is not consistent with this civilized society. The death penalty is just another kill and it is disguised justice. Even the victims will not ask for a death penalty. Why would you guys who do not even experience this kind of agony?

Potential problem of conviction

Have you ever heard about the rate of false conviction of criminal defendants who are sentenced to death? It is about 4%! In other words, about one person out of 25 people sentenced to the death penalty may be innocent. This number is significant! What’s more, there is no way to stop or pause the death penalty because it is not repeatable. If someone is ultimately found innocent, usually, the findings come just too late, and by that time the prisoner has been killed. Unfortunately, all the time, money, and effort that the government spent investigating whether the person is guilty or not was in vain! Also, the poor guy will not exist in the world!

States abolished the death penalty

In 1846, Michigan became the first state to abolish the death penalty. Since then, some states decided to follow its footstep one after another. So far, there exist 31 states with the death penalty and 19 states with the death penalty banned. I believe, in the future, many more states will abolish the death penalty!

 National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Solution

Since then, I think many people will ask me about what we should do next? The death penalty is not appropriate, but is there any alternative for us to keep the murders punished? The answer is yes!

Life imprisonment can be a good alternative. First of all, it lets the criminals live. Secondly, it is acceptable for most victims of crimes. Lastly, it solves the problem of wrong conviction of the death penalty. Life imprisonment offers defendants the chances to live normal lives once they have paid their debt to society. They may rehabilitate their lives as long as they are alive.

A good counterargument for life imprisonment

A good counterargument for life imprisonment is that life imprisonment can be as cruel as the death penalty. Many people may suffer mental problems during their life imprisonment. That’s true; however, punishment itself means cruelty. Those people suffer mental problems because they cannot bear isolation. In essence, life imprisonment should not be criticized too much because it holds one’s whole life. It saves lives and offer defendants opportunities to remedy their mistakes. To be honest, those defendants are the ones who make mistakes, who offend the world, and who create the tragic circumstances for their victims. They should be thankful for being alive!

Conclusion

Although life imprisonment sounds cruel and sometimes makes people feel hopeless, it does punish the criminals, solve the wrong conviction problem of the death penalty, and gives people second chances. Nothing in the world is perfect; the justice system is one of these things!

Yibing Zhang is a student at Northern Virginia Community College majoring in Computer Science.