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I recently asked a question asking which topics(political, or non-political) people want me to write about in a MyTake: Completely unbiased, and that shows both sides of the view. In the comments to this Take, please recommend me doing another issue.
Capital Punishment seems to be a fading debate as of recent political news. There are 58 countries which still implement a form of capital punishment, so it's definitely becoming less popular from a worldwide standpoint. Here in the United States of America, we still our death penalty is still legal in 31 out of our 50 states. We are one of the most pro-capital punishment countries in the world. On this note, let's look at the pros side of capital punishment, and why so many people
Note: I won't give my opinion on this subject. I'll remain entirely neutral, even in the comments.
The Case for Capital Punishment: The Pros
1. There is no Possibility for Criminal Recidivism: This is argument is simple, and gets straight to the point: There is no way someone can commit the same crime he/she has committed if...they die, right? The problem is, if there is some way that our most vile criminals(i.e. murderers) are able to be released from prison, they would most likely do it again. In my opinion, this is the absolute strongest argument on the pro-capital punishment side. This is all that needs to be said. Even some of the most anti-capital punishment people have agreed this is a major reason to keep the death penalty, if nothing else.
Common Rebuttal: One may argue that heinous criminals(such as murderers) are rarely released from prison anyway, so why even worry about this?
2. The Death Penalty Serves as a Deterrence
The once deeply held public and professional opinion that the death penalty acts as a deterrent to crime is widely dismissed but there is more truth in it than the liberals and abolitionists want to acknowledge.
Studies undertaken over a number of years show, unequivocally that between 3 and 18 lives could be saved by each execution of a guilty killer. Results from the University of Colorado in Denver show that an execution saves 5 lives while the commuting of a death sentence results in about five more. The reasoning is simple: If the costs of doing something becomes too high, people will change their behavior to avoid those costs. If the cost reduces people will indulge in that behavior once more.
Yet more research has shown that when the state of Illinois suspended executions in 2000 there were an extra 150 homicides over the following 4 years. More research needs to be undertaken to ensure the quality and accuracy of the methodology and data but the results seem incontrovertible – the death penalty acts as a deterrent and as a result saves lives.
Common Rebuttal: Many other countries are much safer than the U.S., yet, have abolished the death penalty.
3. The Constitution of the United States of America Ensures Capital Punishment
The Constitution of the United States, more specifically through the application of the Fifth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments permit the use of the death penalty in appropriate cases.
There were, most notably in the 1960s, several attempts made to declare the use of the death penalty unconstitutional based on the fact that it was ‘cruel and unusual’ and therefore contrary to the Eighth Amendment. The 1958 Supreme Court case of Trop V Dulles while not a death penalty case interpreted the Eighth Amendment as containing an
‘evolving standard of decency that marked the progress of a maturing society’. This statement was used as a basis for the abolitionist campaign. 10 years later in 1968 in US v Jackson the Supreme Court started to consider the practical application of the death penalty ruling that the death penalty could be imposed even when not recommended by a Jury. The same year the Court ruled that a juror’s reservations to the death penalty were not enough to bar them from serving in and of themselves unless they were so strong as to prevent the juror from making an impartial decision.
By 1972 Eighth Amendment challenges resulted in State Death Penalty Statutes being suspended for unconstitutionality as they could, as drafted, result in arbitrary sentencing. The states immediately started to fight back, redrafting their statutes to address the problems highlighted by the Supreme Court. The death penalty was effectively reinstated by 1977 when the first execution in years took place in Utah.
The death penalty has therefore been challenged, found wanting, redrafted and found to be legal and constitutional.
Common Rebuttal: It depends on how you define "cruel, and unusual"
4. An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth
This is the most emotionally charged argument on this side, and in my opinion, the weakest argument. Many people are simply so angry at the fact that people commit vile crimes, that those same vile criminals deserve to die themselves. It's emotionally charged, and one of the reasons why executions used to(not so much anymore) have a viewing party.
Common Rebuttal: Does it make you any better if you enjoy watching someone die?
The Case Against Capital Punishment: The Cons
1. It's Hypocritical by All Means
In my opinion, this is the strongest argument on this side. The lowest scum of society is still a human being, so is it moral for killing them? How can we kill people to show that killing is wrong? Revenge causes more problems than good for many people. At the very least, don't be a hypocrite.
Common Rebuttal: It's not hypocritical, since we are killing people as a punishment, and not for our own pleasure.
2. Capital Punishment Costs States Too Much Money
It seems like common sense that it’s cheaper to execute someone than to house, feed and take care of them for the rest of their natural life. But there are a lot of unavoidable costs that make a death sentence far more expensive than a sentence of life without parole.
Most of these costs result from the unique status of the death penalty within the U.S. justice system. Because it’s the only truly irreversible form of punishment, the Constitution requires a long and complex judicial process for capital cases, including several levels of mandatory review after a death sentence is issued. The appeals process takes decades to complete.
Studies of the California death penalty system, the largest in the US, have revealed that a death sentence costs at least 18 times as much as a sentence of life without parole would cost. Cases without the death penalty cost $740,000, while cases where the death penalty is sought cost $1.26 million. Maintaining each death row prisoner costs taxpayers $90,000 more per year than a prisoner in general population. Even if someone theoretically lived to be 150 years old, and served 140 of those years in prison(clearly a fairy tall, but I'm making a point here), it would still be less money than how much it costs to execute people.
Common Rebuttal: Even if it costs more, it's still nice my tax money is helping rid a vile criminal.
I Didn't Kill Anyone-Final Words for Some Executed Prisoners
3. There is a Risk of Executing Innocent People
While these cases are rare, this is no minor mistake. The fact is, if you accidentally kill someone who was innocent of the crime, you make one of the biggest mistakes you can possibly make.
At least 4.1% of all defendants sentenced to death in the US in the modern era are innocent, according to the first major study to attempt to calculate how often states get it wrong in their wielding of the ultimate punishment.
A team of legal experts and statisticians from Michigan and Pennsylvania used the latest statistical techniques to produce a peer-reviewed estimate of the “dark figure” that lies behind the death penalty – how many of the more than 8,000 men and women who have been put on death row since the 1970s were falsely convicted.
The team arrived at a deliberately conservative figure that lays bare the extent of possible miscarriages of justice, suggesting that the innocence of more than 200 prisoners still in the system may never be recognized.
Common Rebuttal: Since it's rare, it's not a big deal. There will always be a risk of doing anything in life.
4. It's More Suffering to Spend the Rest of Your Life in Prison Than to Die
This one if self-explanatory. In other words, spending the remainder of your life behind bars is basically a death sentence in itself. Many people think that dying is the easy way out, especially since many states in the U.S. have began using lethal injection, which is a joke for many people. Several prisoners commit suicide in prison because they can't handle the physical torture, the mental torture, the extreme isolation, and the agony of not being free. It's also common for prisoners to be killed in prison.
Common Rebuttal: Prisoners eventually get used to prison, so it becomes a home to them.
Do you all have any more reasons?
Also, what other topics do you recommend I do as a MyTake? Remember, it doesn't have to be political.
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