Capital Punishment
Capital punishment is the lawful infliction of the death penalty and
since
ancient times it has been used to punish a wide variety of offenses.
The Bible
prescribes death for murder and many other crimes such as
kidnapping and
witchcraft. Major felonies carry the death penalty and some of
these felonies
are treason, murder, larceny, burglary, rape, and arson. In
the 1800's however,
England enacted many new capital offenses, and
hundreds of persons were being
sentenced to death each year. In the United
States prior to the Civil War the
death penalty was imposed on slaves for
many crimes, but the penalty for others
were less severe. Today, in 37 of the
50 states you can be sentenced to death if
found guilty of a crime worthy of
the death penalty. The United States is the
only western democratic nation
that has not banned the practice of capital
punishment (Levine 160). Capital
punishment is not answer to crime. Martin
Luther King Jr. wrote,
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can
do that. Hate cannot
drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies
hate, violence
multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a
descending
spiral of destruction" (mccsc.edu). Due to lack of a fair trial,
innocence on
death row, and the myth that it saves citizens money, the death
penalty
should be abolished. The US constitution states, "In all
criminal
prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and
public trial, by
an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the
crime shall have been
committed, which district shall have been previously
ascertained by law, and to
be informed of the nature and cause of the
accusation; to be confronted with the
witnesses against him; to have
compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his
favor, and to have the
Assistance of Counsel for his defense." The US
system is very good about
keeping this right for every accused criminal.
Although, there are those
lawyers who don't care about the people they
represent. There are lawyers who
have passed the bar, and have taken the oath to
honorably defend. However,
because of their illegal and immoral actions they
were disbarred. Lawyers
like this should not defend the accused, but they do.
This does not
protect the right to have the Assistance of Counsel for his
defense. A major
aspect of the death penalty is that it is final. So what should
happen if
mistakes are made? As of today April 28, 2000 there are about 3,500
men and
women on death row (icomm.ca/aiusa). Even if only half of one percent
were
innocent that would mean that about 16 people are waiting their death for
a
crime they did not commit. There are so many aspects that go into the
conviction
that it is impossible to have an infallible legal system.
Witnesses can mistake
identification, false testimony can be given, and an
overall prejudice can all
affect the outcome of a trial. Prejudice and
inadequate defense can all lead to
a false death sentence. People who
advocate the death penalty argue the point
that it is cheaper to kill an
inmate on death row, than it is to house them in a
correctional facility. The
idea is because they are dead the taxpayers will not
have to pay for the
inmate. One aspect that contributes to the support of
capital punishment is
that it affirms the principle of the rule of law. Law
should be reflective
over the ideas of the community that is outraged over the
vicious crimes.
Therefore, it would be fitting to sentence a punishment that is
worthy of the
crime. When a child is growing up and he takes a cookie out of the
cookie
jar, parents would say something like, "OK, well now you can not
have any
sweets after dinner." They would not ground the child for a week.
It is
human nature to make a punishment that fits the crime. In these terms
the
death penalty would be a sensible punishment. It states in the Bible an
eye for
an eye, which would support this claim fully. Although the sixth
Commandment
also states that though shall not kill. So because one sin has
already taken
place, is it right that the government commit another sin.
Bernon Howery was
charged with setting a fire in south Chicago that killed
four children including
three of his own. He asked attorney Earl Washington
who had defended a relative
of Howery's to defend him. Although there were
many leads in the case Washington
did not follow up on the leads. During the
trial Washington was repeatedly late
to court and sometimes did not even show
up. Judge Patrick Burns later commented
about the performance of Washington
to Howery stating he was "totally
amazed" at the little amount of evidence
that was supported in favor of
Howery. Due to the lack of evidence
supporting Howery's innocence, the judge
sentenced Howery to death. In 1997
Howery was granted a new trial due to the
fact that Washington had deprived
Howery of adequate legal representation
(Armstrong Tribune). Thirty-three
defendants sentenced to death were represented
at trial by an attorney who
had been, or was later, disbarred or
suspended-disciplinary sanctions
reserved for conduct so incompetent, unethical
or even criminal that the
state believes an attorney's license should be taken
away. Among those
attorneys were David Landau, who, in the face of 78
disciplinary complaints,
was disbarred one year after representing a Will County
defendant sentenced
to death, and Robert McDonnell, a convicted felon and the
only lawyer in
Illinois history to be disbarred twice. McDonnell represented
four men who
landed on Death Row. He handled those cases after being disbarred
once and
then reinstated despite concerns about his emotional stability and
drinking,
according to state records (Armstrong Tribune). A recent study
revealed over
400 cases of wrongful conviction for capital offenses in the
United
States between 1900 and 1991. Most of the convictions were upheld on
appeal,
with evidence produced years after sentencing to prove the
prisoner's
innocence. But, for 23 of the prisoners, that evidence appeared
too late. They
had already been executed. Between 1973 and 1997, at least 69
men were released
from death rows in 17 U.S. states with significant evidence
of innocence. Flaws
inherent in the death sentencing system had allowed them
to be wrongfully
convicted (icomm.ca/aiusa). In 1989 Randall Dale Adams
escaped execution by only
three days when Texas authorities overturned his
murder conviction and released
him. He had spent 12 years on death row. In
the same year, Florida officials
released James Richardson, who had spent 21
years in custody for murders he did
not commit and had come within 24 hours
of execution. Judicial misconduct has
been cited in his case. In 1990, after
nine years on death row and twice coming
within days of execution, Clarence
Lee Brandley was freed by the state of Texas.
Judge Perry Pickett said,
"The court unequivocally concludes that the color
of Clarence Brandley's skin
was a substantial factor which pervaded all aspects
of the State's capital
prosecution of him." (icomm.ca/aiusa). The following
is an eye witness
account of an Arizona gas chamber execution given by Supreme
Court
Justice John Paul Stevens: "When the fumes enveloped Don's head he
took a
quick breath. A few seconds later, he looked again in my direction. His
face
was red and contorted as if he were attempting to fight through
tremendous
pain. His mouth was pursed shut and his jaw was clenched tight.
Don then took
several more quick gulps of the fumes. His body started
convulsing violently and
his skin turned a deep red...the veins in his temple
and neck began to bulge
until I thought they might explode. After about a
minute, Don's face leaned
partially forward, but he was still very conscious.
He was shuddering
uncontrollably and his body was racked with spasms. His
head continued to snap
back. His fists were clenched tightly. After several
more minutes, the most
violent of the convulsions subsided. At this time, the
muscles along Don's left
arm and back began twitching in a wavelike motion
under his skin. Spittle
drooled from his mouth. Don Harling took exactly ten
minutes and 31 seconds to
die. Approximately three months later, he was found
innocent." (essential.org/dpic)
The death penalty doesn't save taxpayers
any money, either. Many people have the
misconception that criminals should
not be allowed to "rot in jail"
wasting taxpayers money. However, a study
conducted by the Death Penalty
Information Center (DPIC) concludes that
tax payers pay an average of $3.2
million dollars per each death penalty case
-enough to sentence someone to 120
years in a maximum security facility
(essential.org/dpic). Texas, with the
highest execution rate and one of the
highest murder rates in the country,
spends an estimated $2.3 million per
capital case. This is roughly three times
the cost of keeping someone in
prison for 40 years. A study in Kansas, which
recently reinstated the death
penalty, showed that a capital trial, costs
$116,700 more than an ordinary
murder trial (icomm.ca/aiusa). We live in a
nation that states, "In God we
trust" on all of our monetary units. It
also states in our Pledge of
allegiance, "one nation, under God" so it
would seem contradictory for a
government to punish by using death. Our
government obviously recognizes the
role of God in our society. Although because
of the government practices
capital punishment it is mistaking its role. If it
continues to practice the
death penalty it continues to signify its disrespect
for life. The system has
mistakes and because of those mistakes innocent people
are dieing. Abolishing
the death penalty is an effective manner that would
create a more equal a
fair system.
Bibliography
1. Berns, Walter. For Capital
Punishment. New York: Basic Books Inc, 1974. 2.
Courtney, Bryan.
"Fighting the Good Fight." The National Law Journal.
3 January 2000. 3.
Daley, Suzanne. "Europeans Deplore Executions in
US." New York Times 26
Feb. 2000. 4. Hood, Roger. The Death Penalty. New
York: Oxford University
Press, 1996. 5. Ingle, Joseph. Last Rights. Nashville:
Abingdon Press,
1990. 6. Jean, Loren. "In New Hampshire, another look at
Death Penalty."
Boston Globe 5 Mar. 2000. 7. LaBrie, Stephen. "1999
was a good year for Death
Penalty." American Lawyer Media. 29 December
1999. 8. Levine, Herbert.
Political Issues Debated. New Jersey: Prentice Hall,
1993. 9. Mills,
Steve and Armstrong, Ken. "A Tortured path to Death
Row." Chicago Tribune
17 Nov. 1995. 10. Innocence and the Death Penalty:
The Increasing Danger
of Executing the Innocent. Washington, DC. 1 Apr. 2000
11. MLK Speeches.
Atlanta, Georgia. 25 July 2000.
http://www.mccsc.edu/~bhsntech/speeches.html
12. Amnesty International:
Program to Abolish Death Penalty.
13. Armstrong, Ken and Steve Mills.
"Inept defense Clouds Verdict."
Chicago Tribune. 15 November 1999.