Abolish Death Penalty- Justice Shouldnt Be So Inhuman - Speech or Presentation Example

Abolish Death Penalty- Justice shouldn’t be So Inhuman English of the 13 May Dear friends, teachers and the present guests, today what I am going to speak about, happen to be something that is very serious and important. It is a fact that human life happens to be the most precious and respectable thing in this universe. Sadly my speech has to do with the sanctity of human life. It is indeed sad and regrettable to acknowledge that in a free and democratic country like America, death penalty is not only legal and constitutional, but every year many people are given death penalty as a consequence of the crimes committed by them. The views that I am going to express today are not merely my own, but are also supported by an array of respectable experts and specialists that have to do with law and human rights. There is no denying the fact that death penalty is something that is very cruel and inhuman (International Commission against Death penalty 1). No matter how serious or grave a crime committed by a person may be, taking away the life of an individual in a legal sanctioned manner does not suit a free and democratic nation. It is indeed sad that death penalty is still resorted to as a regular and acceptable punishment in many of the states. Yes, death penalty is a very inhuman and violent way to punish any individual, no matter what crime one committed (American Civil Liberties Union 1). Two wrongs cannot and should not make a right. Just because some individual has committed a serious and grave crime does not provide a state with the moral justification to take away one’s life in a legally recognized and sanctioned manner. Thereby I believe that it is time that the death penalty is banned and abolished in the United States of America because death penalty is a punishment that is grossly inhuman, it has so far failed to stop people from committing serious crimes, it primarily targets the ethnic and racial minorities and there do exist many humane and civil substitutes to this grave and serious sort of sentencing. Dear Friends and teachers, the biggest problem with death penalty is that it is inhuman and in a way stands to be a crime against the entire humanity. Taking an individual’s life in a legally sanctioned manner because one has committed some serious crime does not sound like justice. It sounds like inflicting a legal vengeance on that individual in lieu of the crime committed by one. This is not justice. No way! Justice can never be so inhuman and cruel. As per the values and morals existing in the Judeo-Christian tradition and in other important world religions, depriving a human of one’s life at the pretext of justice is no way moral and just (BBC ). All major world religions do hold the human life to be the most precious thing of all and do prohibit the taking away of human life or killing somebody. Thereby, if one considers death penalty in the light of the major religious traditions, there remains no doubt that death penalty is immoral, unethical, violent and cruel and may be considered to be a sin (BBC 1). Not only from a religious point of view, but also from a social and political perspective, death penalty is evil and bad. In any free and democratic society, it is the duty of the government and criminal justice system to uphold the law and human morals. Thereby the justice imparted by any criminal justice system needs to be such that it upholds the human values and human rights (Amnesty International 1). My friends, I simply do not understand that why the United States of America is still continuing with death penalty, when the actual duty of any state is to protect and safeguard people and uphold human values and human rights. When it is the responsibility of the state to safeguard and protect the vulnerable groups and people, how can it allow an inhuman punishment like death penalty to continue? Eventually, the moral dilemma surrounding the death penalty is not that do people who commit serious crimes do deserve to be granted a capital sentence? The actual moral dilemma surrounding the death penalty is that does the state that is held responsible for safeguarding and rehabilitating the prisoners that are jailed as per its laws, should be killing them and depriving them of their life in the name of state justice? Friends, death penalty to some extent reflects on the seriousness of a crime committed by an individual. Yet, it reflects more on the sanity and morality of a government that chooses to kill other person because one has killed other person. Is this something that one could call justice? Should the death penalty be acceptable to the citizens of the United States of America in these times? The answer is a big no! The purpose of any punishment is to reprimand an individual who has committed a crime and to make one suffer for the wrongs one did. Certainly this stands to be true. However, death penalty is something that is way too much and that violently shocks and jolts the human conscience (Green 1). One cannot accept a sentence or punishment to be normal that is so violent, immoral and shocking (Green 1). Death penalty is something that grossly violates and shocks the conscience and sense of justice of the people of the United States of America. It is something that not only shows a great disrespect towards the human life, but it is a form of punishment that grossly underestimates the dignity and value of the human life. How can a nation like America allow the death penalty to be legal and constitutionally recognized when it is a nation that respects and values human dignity, human life and human rights? United States of America is a civilized and just society. If it is so, than how can a nation allow the criminal justice system to do something inhuman and violent to a criminal because one treated some fellow human being in an inhuman and violent way? It is not eventually about the gravity of crime committed by a criminal. It is more about the kind of nation we are and what we aspire to become and be known for. This nation is a nation with a conscience. It is a nation that values human life, the dignity of human life and the human rights that should be accessible to every person by the simple virtue of being a human. Thereby my friends, the collective conscience of this great nation simply cannot allow the death penalty to exist as a legal option (Cuomo 1). We say a big no to death penalty. Dear Friends and teachers, most of the times death penalty is justified by the criminal justice system at the pretext that it has a deterrent effect on serious crime. To put it simply it means that the criminal justice system justifies death penalty, believing that it scares people away from committing serious crime. However, the sad thing is that nothing is far from the truth. The common sense does tell that irrespective of the fact that death penalty has been there for a number of decades, yet, the serious crime in the nation is still existent. Death penalty has miserably failed to scare away the antisocial elements from committing crime. There has not been registered a significant fall in the crimes rates irrespective of the death penalty being there for quite some time. The fact is that many people commit grave crimes like murder, in a fit of passion or while being under the influence of some substance like drugs or alcohol. Hence, such criminals are least likely to commit a crime in the future if they are rehabilitated, given access to mental health facilities and helped with their substance abuse. Thereby kindness, consideration and rehabilitation are more effective ways of checking crime as compared to death penalty. The very idea that death penalty is bound to scare away the criminals has proven to be wrong and is not supported by commonsense observation. Studies have shown that recidivism and serious crime is much lower in such states that have no death penalty provision and that take appropriate measures to help and rehabilitate their criminals (NC Coalition for Alternatives to Death Penalty 1). Hence, of all the tools that are there to fight crime, death penalty is something that should be discarded and done away with at the earliest. Friends and teachers, the other sad thing about death penalty is that it has a racial bias associated with it. Though the African Americans constitute a mere 13 percent of the national population, still a significant chunk of the people on the death row happens to be African Americans (Death Penalty Information Center 1). Thereby the application of death penalty in this nation has a visible racial bias associated with it. Many a time it has been found that the members of the African American community that had been on the death row were found to be innocent at a later stage. Thereby, it is a shocking fact that the color of an individual’s skin does play a major role when it comes to deciding, who gets the death penalty in our nation. This is sad and deplorable. People of color in America do constitute a disproportionate segment of all the individuals who get executed or who happen to be on the death row (Death Penalty Information Center 1). Thereby, the death penalty needs to be banned in the United States of America, simply owing to the racial bias implicit in it. It is indeed disturbing to consider the fact that the members of a particular community do attract a greater proportion of all the capital sentences decided upon in the US. This does mean that the criminal justice is controlled by the white majority, though the numbers of people getting death penalty disproportionately happen to be from the African American community. Hence, in a way the death penalty comes out as a means of control over the colored people by a state that is controlled by the racial majority. Death penalty is a legal provision that is more readily imparted to the colored people. Hence, there is no use of continuing with death penalty that is so biased and prejudiced in its application. Just because I am speaking against death penalty, it no way means that I am against justice, nor I am an opponent of the practice trying and punishing criminals. All that I am saying is that criminals in the US should not be given such violent and harsh punishments when there are more humane substitutes to death penalty. For instance life imprisonment without parole is a very practical and viable substitute to death penalty (Richey 1). It has many advantages over death penalty. First and foremost a life imprisonment sentence does not lead to the killing of a human being in a legally sanctioned and violent manner. Secondly, life imprisonment without a parole deprives a convict of one’s freedom, of a chance to being a part of the society and of the opportunity of leading a normal life with one’s family and loved ones. In a practical sense this could be really harsh and heavy on a convict and is enough to make one repent for the serious crimes committed by one. Life imprisonment also allows a criminal to improve and rehabilitate oneself and to be a sane and good person. Besides, the thing is that the consequences of life imprisonment, unlike death penalty are relatively reversible. Hence, if at a later stage it turns out that a defendant was not guilty, it could allow one to go free and live a normal and happy life. Dear Friends I am sure that most of you do think like me and believe life imprisonment to be an immoral and inhuman legal provision. It is neither supported by religion, nor could be favored on the grounds of human dignity and secular morality. It is a pity that a thing like death penalty exists, when there are people like us who don’t favor or support it. So I ask you to speak against death penalty at all possible forums and send petitions to your respective political representatives to initiate a debate against death penalty. The conscience of this great nation cannot anymore bear with a cruel, violent and inhuman thing like death penalty that has a visible racial bias and does have practical and sane legal substitutes. Thanks all of you for your time and concern! Have a good day! Works Cited American Civil Liberties Union. The Case against the Death Penalty. ACLU 2015. Web 13 May 2015. Amnesty International. Death Penalty. Amnesty International 2015. Web. 13 May 2015. BBC. Capital Punishment: Christianity. BBC Religions 3 August 2009. Web. 13 May 2015. Cuomo, Mario M. “Death Penalty is Dead Wrong: It’s Time to Outlaw Capital Punishment In America Completely” Daily News 2 October 2011. Web. 13 May 2015. Green, Alice P. “Death Penalty in America Immoral and Discriminatory”. Timesunion.com 12 May 2014. Web. 13 May 2015. Death Penalty Information Center. Race and the Death Penalty. DPIC 2015. Web 13 May 2015. International Commission against Death Penalty. Why the Death Penalty should be Abolished. ICDP Review 2013. Web. 13 May 2015. NC Coalition for Alternatives to Death Penalty. Failure to Deter Crime. NCCADPE 2015. Web. 13 May 2015. Richey, Warren. “Death Penalty for Murder? Majority Supports an Alternative, Poll Says’. The Christian Science Monitor 16 November 2010. Web. 13 May 2015. https://www.aclu.org/case-against-death-penalty https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/death-penalty/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/christianethics/capitalpunishment_1.shtml http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/death-penalty-dead-wrong-time-outlaw-capital-punishment-america-completely-article-1.961087 http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Death-penalty-in-America-immoral-and-5472087.php http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/race-and-death-penalty http://www.icomdp.org/arguments-against-the-death-penalty/ http://nccadp.org/issues/deterrence/ http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2010/1116/Death-penalty-for-murder-Majority-supports-an-alternative-poll-says Outline Thesis: Thereby I believe that it is time that the death penalty is banned and abolished in the United States of America because death penalty is a punishment that is grossly inhuman, it has so far failed to stop people from committing serious crimes, it primarily targets the ethnic and racial minorities and there do exist many humane and civil substitutes to this grave and serious sort of sentencing. I. Introduction A. Death penalty should be abolished II. it’s inhuman A. Religion does not support it B. Secular human morality does not support it III. Politically not valid A. The duty of the state is to protect people B. Reflects badly on the state IV. Failed to deter criminals A. Crime rates have not declined B. Crime rates declined in states which do not practice death penalty V. Racial Bias A. Most of the punished individuals are African Americans B. Symbol of majority control over minorities VI. Substitutes exist A. Life imprisonment without parole B. It is a practical and humane substitute VII. Conclusion Read More