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The Death Penalty
In every state that retains the death penalty, jurors have the option of sentencing convicted capital murderers to life in prison without the possibility of parole. However, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, there have been 1369 executions since 1976 (Death Penalty Information Center, 2014), with a total of 39 executions in year 2013 (NAACP LDF). The death penalty is a cycle of violence magnified with economic inequalities, violations to human rights, and uses cruel uncivilized instruments of death. US lawmakers need to end this horrific cycle of violence and unjust punishment. This immorality of state-sanctioned killing is wrong in many ways and should be abolished. The right to life and dignity are the most important of all human rights and should be demonstrated even with criminals, but is a critical issue with the death penalty. Prisoners have small cells, no windows, no television, radio, or books. They sleep on a steel bed and live in total solitary confinement 23 hours a day. This is the prison life. However, death row inmates live this life and a life of severe anxiety and mental torture before they even make it to their day of execution. In some countries, death row inmates, their families and their attorneys are denied advance notice of the date and time of the execution. This is a violation of a human right resulting in inhuman and degrading treatment (Bradford). "The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the case of Pratt v. Jamaica held that a delay of fourteen years was enough alone to constitute a violation of cruel punishment (Bradford, 2010)." Prisoners are still human beings, entitled to respect; no matter what crime they are convicted of, and should not be denied their rights. Equally important when arguing the abolishment of the death penalty is the quality of representation a defendant receives. Almost all defendants in capital cases cannot afford their own
In every state that retains the death penalty, jurors have the option of sentencing convicted capital murderers to life in prison without the possibility of parole. However, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, there have been 1369 executions since 1976 (Death Penalty Information Center, 2014), with a total of 39 executions in year 2013 (NAACP LDF). The death penalty is a cycle of violence magnified with economic inequalities, violations to human rights, and uses cruel uncivilized instruments of death. US lawmakers need to end this horrific cycle of violence and unjust punishment. This immorality of state-sanctioned killing is wrong in many ways and should be abolished. The right to life and dignity are the most important of all human rights and should be demonstrated even with criminals, but is a critical issue with the death penalty. Prisoners have small cells, no windows, no television, radio, or books. They sleep on a steel bed and live in total solitary confinement 23 hours a day. This is the prison life. However, death row inmates live this life and a life of severe anxiety and mental torture before they even make it to their day of execution. In some countries, death row inmates, their families and their attorneys are denied advance notice of the date and time of the execution. This is a violation of a human right resulting in inhuman and degrading treatment (Bradford). "The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the case of Pratt v. Jamaica held that a delay of fourteen years was enough alone to constitute a violation of cruel punishment (Bradford, 2010)." Prisoners are still human beings, entitled to respect; no matter what crime they are convicted of, and should not be denied their rights. Equally important when arguing the abolishment of the death penalty is the quality of representation a defendant receives. Almost all defendants in capital cases cannot afford their own