Capital punishment is Unjustifiable and should be Abolished

However, concerns have been raised in the morality and effectiveness of the continued use of capital punishment in the society. Therefore, this paper will discuss the reasons why capital punishment should be abolished, and other appropriate measures adopted by the society. The life of a human is sacred, and despite that it is an ideal which people would agree with to some extent, the taking of another person’s life has been termed as one of the most deplorable crimes in the society. Therefore, many would demand the person to be met with the harshest punishment available, which is to exterminate the person from the living (Johnson 1034). However, this activity raises the moral dilemma of the modern civilization, is taking a life of a person who has taken another, or put the security of the nation into jeopardy be considered an appropriate punishment? There are several aspects which can be considered to espouse that capital punishment is the only available punishment for such crimes.

In 2004, Mr. Willingham was executed for the crime of killing his three daughters. However, later evidence has shown that he was not responsible for the fire which killed his daughters, but it was too late to correct it. If Willingham were alive, new evidence would have acquitted him, but the absolute judgment had already taken an innocent life. In the United States, since 1973, 130 death row prisoners have been acquitted from it after new evidence has been found, with the victims spending an average of 11 years before they were exonerated (Yost 325). Some of the murders committed happen when the person in such an emotional state where he or she cannot think of the consequences of the crime (Yost 331). In this case, capital punishment can only deter those people who were in their right state of mind to commit the crime, which is a very rare an occurrence.

In most cases, such cases would take years to conclude, and this prolonged legal process would diminish the essence of deterrence to others. Amnesty International in 2009 indicated that there is no scientific evidence which can prove the capital punishment deters criminal activity, unlike life imprisonment. modern execution has always been assumed to be done in a humane and private state devoid of pain and suffering like that of hanging or firing squad. In this case, the argument is that the death penalty acts as a tool to be used by the police in their pursuit of closing cases. However, this is a very flimsy argument in support of the capital punishment and in this case, it is no different than the justification of torture by police to gain information from the accused.

After the advancement of technology such as DNA testing, there have been instances where the corrupt police officers were found to have fabricated evidence, planted evidence or avoided crucial evidence which would have been essential in helping the accused prove their innocence (Tor, Gazal-Ayal and Garcia 103). Many of these accused persons complained that they had been coursed or forced to enter a guilty plea in exchange for lighter sentences. Some of these police officers wanted to improve their case closed ratings or finish cases before they retire. Human lives are valuable, and everyone should strive to protect their sanctity, and cases of fabricated evidence is an example of a person committing murder indirectly. However much the case had involved a dead victim, choosing an innocent victim to close case is very unfortunate for the justice system.