Looking out for the state of the public's satisfaction in the scheme of capital
sentencing does not Constitute serving justice. Today's system of capital
punishment is fought with inequalities and Injustices. The commonly offered
arguments for the death penalty are filled with holes. It was a Deterrent. It
removed killers. It was the ultimate punishment. It is biblical. It satisfied
the public's need For retribution. It relieved the anguish of the victim's
family. (Grisham 120) Realistically, imposing the Death penalty is expensive and
time consuming. Retroactively, it has yet to be proven as a deterrent. Morally,
it is a continuation of the cycle of violence and ô...degrades all who are
involved in its Enforcement, as well as its victim. (Stewart 1) Perhaps the most
frequent argument for capital punishment is that of deterrence. The prevailing
Thought is that imposition of the death penalty will act to dissuade other
criminals from committing Violent acts. Numerous studies have been created
attempting to prove this belief; however, to the Evidence taken together makes
it hard to be confident that capital punishment deters more than long Prison
terms do. (Cavanagh 4) Going ever farther, Bryan Stevenson, the executive
director of the Montgomery based Equal Justice Initiative, has stated that
people are increasingly realizing that the More we resort to killing as a
legitimate response to our frustration and anger with violence, the more Violent
our society becomes. We could execute all three thousand people on death row,
and most People would not feel any safer tomorrow. (Frame 51) In addition, with
the growing humanitarianism Of modern society, the number of inmates actually
put to death is substantially lower than 50 years Ago. This decline creates a
situation in which the death penalty ceases to be a deterrent when the Populace
begins to think that one can get away with a crime and go unpunished. Also, the
less that the Death sentence is used; the more it becomes unusual, thus coming
in conflict with the eighth Amendment. This is essentially a paradox, in which
the less the death penalty is used, the less society Can legally use it. The end
result is a punishment that ceases to deter any crime at all. The key part of
the death penalty is that it involves death-something, which is rather permanent
for Humans, due to the concept of mortality. This creates a major problem when
there continue to be Many instances of innocent people being sentenced to death.
(Tabak 38) In our legal system, there Exist numerous ways in which justice might
be poorly served for a recipient of the death sentence. Foremost is in the
handling of his own defense counsel. In the event that a defendant is without
Counsel, a lawyer will be provided. Attorney's appointed to represent indigent
capital defendants Frequently lack the qualities necessary to provide a
competent defense and sometimes have exhibited Such poor character that they
have subsequently been disbarred. (Tabak 37). With payment caps or Court
determined sums of, for example, $5 an hour; there is not much incentive for a
lawyer to spend A great deal of time was representing a capital defendant. When
you compare this to the prosecution, Aided by the police, other law enforcement
agencies, crime labs, state mental hospitals, various Other scientific
resources, prosecutors experienced in successfully handling capital cases,
Compulsory process, and grand juries (Tabak 37), the defense that the court
appointed counsel can Offer is puny. If, in fact, a defendant has a valid case
to offer, what chance has he to offer it and have It properly recognized.
Furthermore, why should he be punished for a misjustice that was created by? The
court itself when it appointed the incapable lawyer. Even if a defendant has
proper legal counsel, There is still the matter of impartiality of judges. The
Supreme Court has steadily reduced the Availability of habeas corpus review of
capital convictions, placing its confidence in the notion that State judges, who
take the same oath of office as federal judges to uphold the Constitution, can
be Trusted to enforce it. (Bright 768) This makes for the biased trying of a
defendant's appeals, given The overwhelming pressure on elected state judges to
heed, and perhaps even lead to, the popular cries For the death of criminal
defendants. (Bright 769) Thirty two of the states that impose the death Penalty
also employ the popular election of judges, and several of these even have
judges run with Party affiliations. This creates a deeply political justice
system-the words alone are a paradox. Can Society simply brush off mistaken
execution as an incidental cost in the greater scheme of putting a Criminal to
death? Revenge is an unworthy motive for our society to pursue. (Whittier 1) In
our Society, there is a great expectation placed on the family of a victim to
pursue vengeance to the highest Degree-the death penalty. Pat Bane, executive
director of the Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation (MVFR), stated, One
parent told me that people made her feel like she was betraying Her son because
she did not want to kill the person who murdered him. (Frame 50) This creates a
Dilemma of morality. If anything, by forcing families to seek the death penalty,
their own consciences Will be burdened by the death of the killer. Furthermore,
killing him will not bring back your Son [s]. (Grisham 402). At some point, man
must stop the violence. Seeking temporary gratification is Not a logical basis
for whether the death penalty should be imposed. Granted, revenge is easily
Confused with retribution, and most would agree that the punishment should fit
the crime, but can Society really justifies murdering someone else simply on the
basis that they deserved it? Government Has the right and duty to protect the
greater good against people who jeopardize the welfare of Society, but a killer
can be sentenced to life without chance of parole, and society will be just as
safe As if he had been executed. A vast misconception concerning the death
penalty is that it saves society the costs of keeping Inmates imprisoned for
long periods. In the act of preserving due process of justice, the court appeals
Involved with the death penalty becomes a long, drawn-out and very expensive
process. The average Time between sentencing and execution for the 31 prisoners
put on death row in 1992 was 114 Months, or nine and a half years. (Stewart 50)
Criminal justice process expenses, trial court costs, Appellate and
post-conviction costs, and prison costs perhaps including years served on death
row Awaiting execution... all told, the extra costs per death penalty imposed in
over a quarter million Dollars, and per execution exceeds $2 million. (Cavanagh
4) When you compare this to the average Costs for a twenty-year prison term for
first-degree murder (roughly $330 thousand), the cost of Putting someone away
for life is a deal. Is it really worth the hassle and money to kill a criminal,
when? We can put them away for life for less money with a great deal more ease?
In earlier times-where Capital punishment was common, the value of life was
less, and societies were more barbaric-capital Punishment was probably quite
acceptable. However, in today's society, which is becoming ever More
increasingly humanitarian and individual rights and due process of justice are
held in high Accord, the death penalty is becoming an unrealistic form of
punishment. Also, with the ever present Possibility of mistaken execution, there
will remain the question of innocence of those put to death. Finally, man is not
a divine being. He does not have the right to inflict mortal punishment in the
name Of society's welfare, when there are suitable substitutes that requires
fewer resources. I ask society, ...Why don't we stop the killing? (Grisham 404)
Bibliography Grisham, John. The Chamber. New York: Island Books, 1994. Stewart, David O.
Dealing with Death. American Bar Association Journal 80.11 (1994): 50 Tabak,
Ronald J. Report: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel and Lack of Due Process in
Death Penalty Cases. Human Rights 22.Winter (1995): 36 Whittier, Charles H.
Moral Arguments For and Against Capital Punishment. CRS Report for Congress
(1996):