Why Not Capital Punishment?

in #liberty6 years ago (edited)

It's estimated that roughly 4 percent of all defendants who are sentenced to death are innocent.

There is a great opportunity for mistakes to be made and when they are made that means that some innocent individual is going to spend decades behind bars, that they might even wrongfully be murdered by the state for something that they didn't do.

Hundreds of inmates have already been proven to have been falsely convicted, and for those who were illegitimately placed behind bars for decades some of them have pursued costly litigation against the state over the injustice.

These death row programs are expensive, have been riddled with mistakes and suffered from poor management.

Is it ever acceptable to punish 1 innocent person?


We already know that countless mistakes have been made and results have demonstrated over the years that perhaps we cannot trust such an organization to disperse justice in the way of who should live or die.

The government has proven to be inefficient at meeting a variety of needs, and we know that their deployment of “justice” doesn't come without the occasional mistake.

As well, the death penalty hasn't shown to effectively deter crime either.

That's because most offenders aren't going to consider the consequences of their actions at the time that they are committing the crime. For decades, murder has been seen to be more common in states with capital punishment. If it does have any effect on deterring crime whatsoever, researchers have suggested that it must be insignificant.

Surprisingly, researchers have even suggested in the past that there have been instances in which the death penalty was the cause of the crime, rather than the deterrent. Because offenders had been seeking to invite execution by engaging in their criminal wrongdoing.

Whether or not someone gives up their right to their life once they take the life of someone else, it's clear that government cannot be trusted to issue the "justice" in this circumstance, they are incapable of performing without making frequent mistakes. When they do make those mistakes, it is innocent people who spend 30+ years behind bars for something that they didn't do.

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The answer is a resounding "Nope".

Good post!

Posted using Partiko Android

I do not believe it is our place to decide who lives or dies. I believe that prisoners can serve a more productive role in Society or at least in prison. I also believe life in prison is an alternative to the death penalty. This allows all prisones time too think about the crime and perhaps get a clean spirit. It allows them to be productive. And it allows anyone who is innocent not to be put to death. Thanks for sharing.

I just wrote on the death penalty and I still want to cry about it. Made me feel.really tender. You might be interested in my view. Plus I include an awesome song too. X

Posted using Partiko Android

You summed it up perfectly. People can moralize all day about how some criminals deserve harsh justice, or simply that the prison system needs to be relieved of inmates because of cost, but when you face the possibility of giving someone a false sentence that can never even be attempted to be made up for, then you better have a better excuse than that.

@doitvoluntarily thank you very much for sharing this news.
Sadly, the more time passes, the less I believe in justice and the actions of public bodies. No one has the right to take a person's life, regardless of what they have done.
As you say the death penalty has not changed anything

Hello @doitvoluntarily, thank you for sharing this creative work! We just stopped by to say that you've been upvoted by the @creativecrypto magazine. The Creative Crypto is all about art on the blockchain and learning from creatives like you. Looking forward to crossing paths again soon. Steem on!

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