Anti-Death Penalty Arguments

There are many critics of capital punishment who claim it is "inhuman and cruel punishment." Of course, the crimes that got the convicted prisoner on Death Row the Death Sentence was capital murder, sometimes more than one murder. But, the sad fact is capital punishment has not slowed down the crime rate nor has it kept people from committing murder. "The death penalty does not deter crime. According to an anti-death penalty editorial in USA Today (March 8, 1995), the death penalty may actually increase crime and violence: The average 1993 murder rate in the states with the death penalty was 56% higher than in states without," said the editorial. Furthermore, it seems fairly accurate that the rich, who can afford to hire expensive lawyers (yes, O.J., for one) can get away with murder and escape Death, and perhaps even long prison terms, if any prison sentences at all. Doing away with the death penalty solves nothing, except gladden some liberal hearts. Keeping the death penalty does not reduce crime but at least gives closure to the families and friends of victims. It is fair to say, however, both points of view have some merit (if not equal merit, at least some!).

First, let's examine some anti-death penalty arguments. "Late-20th-century arguments against the death penalty , such as those put forth by Supreme Court justice Harry Blackmun, take another tack, arguing its fundamental unconstitutionality regarding due process, rather than its failure as a mode of

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Category: Government - A