Death Penalty, the Death Toll Rises essays

Death Penalty, the Death Toll Rises essays The death penalty has been a subject of dispute for centuries in the United States. It has been set in place not only to prevent the number of murders taking place, but also to instill a sense of justice for the victims of murder. Murder, in itself, is a simple concept: the non-accidental killing of another human being. Simply put, the death penalty itself is murder. The death penalty is murder of the worst kind, first-degree murder. One of the qualifications for first-degree murder is premeditation, and that is precisely what is involved in the killing of a death row inmate. The idea is in place to kill the murderer before they are ever put to death. Not only is the death penalty first-degree murder; even worse in some circumstances, innocent people are being sentenced to death through mistakes in the process of the trials. In the past thirty or so years, over eighty death row inmates have been released with evidence of their innocence. From 1973 to 1993 on average two and a half defendants a year were freed because they were found not guilty. Another issue found by Researchers Radelet twenty-three cases since 1900 where innocent people were executed (Bush Kills, 2004). One innocent dying due to failure in the system is too many. There is no justification to sentence someone to death, particularly when they were not the one who committed the act. Still, some will make the argument that the death penalty should exist. Although, some innocent people have been sentenced to death as a result of human error, which is an ever-present factor in law. Some advocates for the death penalty will argue that only about a third of the inmates that have been released were actually innocent (USA Today, Willing). However, they are also saying that the others were released due only to legal technicalities (USA Today, Willing). In addition, they argue that people opposing the death penalty...