The death penalty is a controversial topic in law and society. Whether you stand for or against, the basic premise is somewhat contradictory. Punishing someone for committing a murder by murdering them, in itself is an oxymoron. This is where some of the grey areas come into focus, as it questions ideals such as ‘all murder is wrong’ and reverts to an almost biblical practice of ‘an eye for an eye’. However, in modern terms is this truly an acceptable practice?
Without an immaculate system that is free from prejudice, fault, or room for error, the death penalty cannot be justified. Prima facie, this is the law sanctioning murder in controlled circumstances, which are executed by approved personnel. The issue here is not to pose an ethical debate as to who has the authority to end a life, it is merely highlighting the systematic failures surrounding the death penalty and why it cannot be justified.
Execution Methods
Certain governments may justify capital punishment by claiming it is still a modern form of retribution. In Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Utah, the execution can still occur using a ‘firing squad’, and has been used for three executions since 1976. The last person to be executed by firing squad was Ronnie Gardner and this took place in Utah on June 17, 2010.
Another accepted method of the death penalty in seven States in America is lethal gas, through which there have been eleven executions since 1976. While this is not the primary form of execution method - lethal injection being the most common - it is still a part of the State’s law.
One method of execution that was used frequently until 2008 was the electric chair. This is one of the most aggressive methods of execution and causes violent movements, convulsions, and in some cases catching on fire. One case being Pedro Medina in 1997 where “a crown of foot-high flames shot from the headpiece during the execution” and after investigation it was found that “the fire was caused by the improper application of a sponge (designed to conduct electricity) to Medina’s head”.
The most modern and prominent form of execution is lethal injection. Recently, there has been a restriction of imported lethal injection drugs in the US and so this has regrettably led to “states using new and untested drugs that have resulted in horrific botched executions”. Many of the failed executions meant that they took hours to administer the lethal injection successfully and in many cases there was a failure to find a suitable vein. One specific case where there was a substantial failure is Angel Diaz in 2006; the lethal injection was “injected into soft tissue, rather than the vein”, which meant that “a second dose was then administered, and 34 minutes passed before Mr. Diaz was declared dead”. This was 34 minutes of torture. It is unjustifiable to support the prolonged death of someone in law.
This highlights that there is not a perfect system in place, mistakes can, and have, happened. Failures administering lethal injections, failures conducting electrocutions and outdated forms of executions are all unacceptable.
Wrongful Convictions
The most convincing argument for the abolition of the death penalty is the miscarriages of justice that lead to innocent people being charged, imprisoned, and killed. It has been estimated that “there is an approximate rate of one exoneration for every nine executions in the US”, which is an alarming statistic that is threatening lives of those being prosecuted. It is hard to imagine that people are actively murdered ‘legally’ without any form of justice or retribution following their death, to be merely written off as a miscarriage of justice.
Case Study
Sunny Jacobs and Jesse Tafero were sentenced to the death penalty in 1976, for a crime they did not commit. Their cases were founded in the false testimony of the actual perpetrator Walter Rhodes, in exchange for a reduced sentence. Even though Rhodes was the only person who tested positive for gun powder residue, Tafero and Jacobs received the death penalty.
Tafero unfortunately did not succeed with his appeals and was executed in 1990 by electric chair which malfunctioned and was stopped three times due to fire. Jacobs proceeded to spend five years in solitary confinement, “her vocal cords becoming atrophied because of non-use”. Jacobs was not released until 1992, at which point she had spent sixteen years in prison, her partner executed, and children grown into adults, all endured for a crime which she did not commit. “The prosecutor accepted a plea in which Jacobs did not admit guilt, and she was immediately released”.
Being convicted, sentenced, and in some cases executed for a crime that you did not commit is a horrific injustice.
Racial Bias
There is a large racial bias surrounding capital punishment, “African Americans make up 43% of the death row population, but only comprise 13% of the general population”. Furthering this, “the odds of receiving a death sentence are nearly four times higher if the defendant is black than if he or she is white”. This is a serious issue with the death penalty in the US, it supports and upholds systematic racism, with prejudicial convictions and sentences. The race of the perpetrator or victim should not have an effect on the severity of the sentence received, this undermines any pretence that the death penalty is in place in the interest of justice.
Conclusion
The death penalty is flawed, no matter what justification there may be for capital punishment, it is not being enforced successfully. There are prejudicial biases when convicting and sentencing, a lack of sufficient testing of lethal injections, and a failure to guarantee that those being executed are in fact guilty. Punishing someone by committing the same crime that they are being punished for is hypocritical. In modern society, there must be a more appropriate and sufficient way to uphold the criminal justice system without ending a life. The overreaching theme here is that there should be an aim to serve justice and provide closure and support to the victim and their loved ones without inciting more violence.
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