My Take on Capital Punishment

In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court struck state death penalty laws, because the laws were not administered justly. In 1976, the court reinstated the death penalty after the adoption of new procedures. Among the 50 states, the death penalty is abolished in 13 states and 5 more states have not carried out any recent executions. Five states have carried out over 2/3 of the executions since 1977. In most states the method of execution is by lethal injection although in several states the prisoner may choose an alternative method. Nebraska stills mandates electrocution.

Conservatives support capital punishment because they believe the punishment fits the crime, because for the most part the death penalty is only given to people who commit murder. Conservatives argue that the death penalty deters criminals, and thus lowers the murder rate. They also argue that the death penalty provides families of crime victims with much needed closure.

Liberals do not believe in the death penalty for many reasons. Most people who do not believe in the death penalty believe so because they don't think that it is ethical, and that it violates the constitution in that it is cruel and unusual punishment. They argue that capital punishment is a violation of human rights, especially if there remains a possibility that the individual being executed is innocent. They also believe that the penalty is barbaric, especially when applied to mentally retarded persons and juveniles.

On this issue I am definitely liberal. I do not believe that a civilized society should execute its citizens. To do so would the society no more barbaric than the person committed the crime. Also, because there is always a chance that the criminal is innocent. There have been many documented cases were people who have been previously found guilty were proved to be innocent through DNA evidence. This is alarming and shows one flaw in the system.