The Death Penalty in the United States - Research Paper Example

?Your Full Your 27 February The Death Penalty Should be Abolished in the United s Imagine yourselfbeing strapped to a bed, while bungling, untrained people try to insert an IV line in your veins, failing and retrying again and again, to the point where they have punctured your body more than ten times. Now imagine that, after your deflated vein has finally been fixed with the line, and chemicals start pouring into your body. You should be unconscious by this time, but somehow, due to the inexperience and ignorance of the personnel involved, you are simply paralyzed, not unconscious as actually intended. You feel the excruciating pain, each and every nuance of the agony, which comes with the heart-stopping effect of potassium chloride, but you cannot call out because you are completely paralyzed. This is, indeed, a possibility, and a very common one, facing those on death row in the United States today. The issue of death penalty is a contentious one, with very vociferous opinions on either side. However, the death penalty should be abolished in the United States, as it is cruel and unusual punishment. The fact is that the lethal injection, the current mode of implementing the death penalty, is carried often, if not always, carried out by untrained prison staff, without the presence of a doctor. There are a lot of mistakes made, regarding the ratio of the concoction to be administered as well as correctly inserting the IV line. This causes undue pain, as well as downright tortuous pain, to the person condemned to die via the lethal injection. The concoction, if not administered in the correct ratio, causes paralysis and not unconsciousness, leaving the punishment open to being considered torture (Drehle 2). It clearly makes out a good case for cruel and unusual punishment. As a developed and democratic country, based on principles opposing torture, the United States should abolish the death penalty as it goes against these very principles. Sometimes although the nature of the crime is heinous, however, even the supporters of capital punishment agree that the death penalty should not be carried out. This is especially so when the mental faculties of the accused are not sound. However, there are cases where mentally retarded, or borderline retarded, people have been executed despite their disabled mental faculties. The recent case of the execution of Teresa Lewis, a borderline mentally retarded woman, in Virginia can be quoted as a good example in this regard. As long as the capital punishment is carried out in the United States, events like this are bound to occur one day or another, where a mentally challenged person is condemned and handed down capital punishment. John Steinbeck, in his novel Of Mice and Men, also pointed out at this flaw in our capital punishment law. Even though the mentally challenged person, Lennie, is killed by his friend George as an act of kindness, however, it is clear that had George not done this, Lennie would have been executed, either by the law or by the lynch mob. This brings us to another factor against capital punishment. There has been a history of mob lynching in the United States, there is, one can say, a sort of mob mentality, where the enraged mob often goes looking for culprit. Often, in this rage, reason is forgone, and emotions become the rule of the day. The truth is often obscured in such cases. The story the Lynching of Jube Benson by Paul Laurence Dunbar points at this flaw, where Benson was lynched based on flimsy evidence, and only because of riled up emotions. Though it is argued that our justice system is not akin to mob lynching, however, it is good to remember that even during trials emotions often run high. Reason and logic are often the first casualties of such emotionally driven trials. It is, therefore, not a good atmosphere for carrying out justice to the accused, who are sometimes not even guilty. So to leave room open for the death penalty is not wise. The justice system in United States is not perfect, and it is a fact that not only the guilty are handed down the death penalty, but sometimes the innocent are also falsely proven to be guilty. In the murder of a 10 year old in Illinois, in 1983, the prosecutors fought to have two men sent to death row. After spending 10 years on death row, these men were found to be innocent, with the help of DNA evidence. The man who was found to be guilty, consequently, had also confessed to the crime in 1985, but nobody had taken his admission seriously (Donohue, and Shavell x). Had they not been allowed to get involve in lengthy appeal systems, which our death penalty laws entail, they would have been executed for a crime they did not commit. In such a case the state cannot offer any form of redress to the injured, for how does a person whose life is taken away get redress? Surely he cannot be brought back to life by the State. Curtailed freedom, on the other hand can very well be given back. The state should not take from the citizens that which it cannot return. The United States criminal justice system is not perfect, there are many flaws therein, which require correcting, and which often cause the innocent to get punished for crimes others have committed. This factor, alone, should be enough to make a strong point in favor of abolishing the death penalty in the United States. While criminal justice systems do make mistakes all over the world and those who are wronged are redressed, however, a person who gets executed due to falsely being found guilty can have no recourse to redress. Since 1973, more than 130 people have been exonerated, and released from death row, after their innocent was proven (DPIC FactSheet). Those who are in favor of the death penalty aver that capital punishment has a deterrent effect – it causes people to refrain from involving themselves in crimes that are punishable by death. This is backed up by a recent research carried out – according to some of them, for each death sentence carried out, about 3 to 18 murders are prevented (Liptak 1). However, firstly the basic flaw of this research is that it is done by economists and not sociologists; the former do not have ample data or expertise to come to conclusion about social phenomenon, whereas the latter do. Experts agree (see for example Donohue, and Wolfers, qtd. in Donohue, and Shavell vii) that there are multiple factors in a society that can cause a rise or drop in offenses, and just to refer to capital punishment as a cause for its decline is not enough. A study by Randi Hjalmarsson shows that capital punishment does not have a deterrent effect on a local population (qtd. in Donohue, and Shavell viii). What is more, research done by Philips Cook in 2004 suggests that there is no effect of abolition of the death penalty on the number of murders committed (qtd. in Donohue, and Shavell xi). A poll showed that those who favor capital punishment often changed their view when given the choice of life without parole, furthermore, a lot of those interviewed showed reluctance or refusal to serve on a death-penalty jury (Drehle 1), which shows that there is room in the society to maneuver. The capital punishment is not, and should not be, a taboo subject. If we are to, indeed, consider ourselves a part of the modern, civilized world, we should abolish this barbaric law, which can cause the state to become an accessory to murder, or at least suicide (Drehle 2). The justice system of our country is burdened by the constant appeals involved, with some research showing that a lot of unnecessary expenses result due to the process of appeals involved in a capital punishment case (see for example Cook, qtd. in Donhue, and Shavell xi). Most of the developed countries in the world, including the European Union have completely abolished the death penalty, in favor of life imprisonment. It is only natural and logical that the United States should follow suit. Works Cited Death Penalty Information Center. Death Penalty Information Center, 2011. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. This is the website of a renowned non-profit organization that has been publishing data related to the death penalty for about two decades. It mainly focuses on how the death penalty is applied in the United States. Donohue III, John J., and Steven Shavell. “Introduction to the Death Penalty Symposium.” American Law and Economics Review 11.2 (2009): v-xii. Print. As the name suggests, it is an introduction to various articles about the death penalty (both for and against). Therefore, it is a good resource for a cursory glance at both sides of the topic. It provides valuable information as it lists the gist of the articles that are to follow. Drehle, David Von. “Death Penalty Walking.” TIME.com. Time Inc., 3 Jan. 2008. Web. 27 Feb 2011. This article talks about the cruel and unusual punishment an execution by lethal injection can become. Moreover, it talks about the flaws in the current laws involving the subject, as well as mentioning the openness of the supporters to other alternatives while dealing with murderers. Dunbar, Paul Laurence. “The Lynching of Jube Benson.” Death Sentences: 34 Classic Short Stories about the Death Penalty. Ed. Susan Ives. San Antonio, TX: peaceCENTER, 2009. 265-272. Print. A short story about a black man, who is wrongfully murdered by a lynch mob, this work brings to light the effect of emotions in trials. Though the character in the story dies at the hands of a lynch mob, however, the story is used to highlight the emotionally charged atmosphere of murder trials, as an effort to convince that emotionally charged people should not be given the power to take away someone’s life. Liptak, Adam. “Does Death Penalty Save Lives? A New Debate.” NYTimes.com. The New York Times Company, 18 Nov. 2007. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. In his article, Liptak has sought to bring forward evidence that capital punishment has a deterrent effect. This is included in the research to bring to the forefront the opposing view i.e. the view of those who are in favor of the death penalty. Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. Print. A novella about two ranch workers, one of whom is mentally deficient, it brings to light the issue of a mentally retarded person killing another and the consequences thereof. With the character of Lennie, the mentally retarded character of the book, it is easy to explain just why capital punishment should be abolished. Szkotak, Steve. “Teresa Lewis, Mentally Disabled Woman, Executed in Virginia Amid Outcry.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com Inc., 23 Sep. 2010. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. This article highlights the case of Teresa Lewis, who was executed in Virginia via lethal injection. Though she was borderline mentally disabled, however, she was executed. It is included to assert that this would not be the case if death penalty is completely abolished, as having capital punishment causes such grave travesties. Outline 1. Thesis Statement: Death Penalty should be abolished a. Lethal injection not free from harm (unconsciousness vs paralysis) b. Cruel and unusual punishment 2. Cruel and unusual punishment a. Carried out by untrained prison staff b. No doctor present c. Amounts to torture in some cases d. United States should abolish it as it is a firm opponent of torture 3. Ends up punishing the mentally retarded a. Leaves room to condemn mentally challenged people to death b. Case of Theresa Lewis in Virginia c. Relevant to Lennie in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men 4. Mob mentality a. Lynching has been done before b. Jube Benson’s wrongful lynching in Dunbar’s story c. Emotions sway trials d. Death penalty to be legal where emotions are charged is not a good idea 5. The convicted innocent a. Example of 2 men in 1983 Illinois case from Donohue and Shavell b. Ends up taking away from the innocent that which cannot be returned c. The state should not take that which it cannot return 6. Flawed criminal justice system a. The innocent get punished b. Statistics from DPIC show about 130 people on death row have been completely exonerated 7. Deterrent effect of capital punishment a. Proponed by supporters b. Some recent research supports it c. However, the research done was by economists, who are not well versed in social phenomenon to make such claims d. Multiple factors effect rise and fall in crime statistics, it is not one-dimensional e. Randi Hjalmarsson (from Donohue and Shavell) found that capital punishment does not have a deterrent effect on local population f. Cook’s 2004 research, from Donohue and Shavell, also shows that the abolition of death penalty had no effect on the number of murders committed 8. Supporters of capital punishment open to other options a. Life without parole chosen as alternative b. Reluctance of supporters to serve on death-penalty jury c. State assisted “suicide” or “murder” of sorts should be abolished 9. Conclusion: undue costs and barbaric nature of the punishment, as well as abandonment of the practice by most developed countries, and all of EU. Read More