Much controversy around the world surrounds the death penalty. The idea of killing someone as a consequence of a crime seems just to many but others are against it. The death penalty Is a capital punishment that is put into effect for major crimes. Some criminals are left on death row for a long period of time isolated from others putting them in a mentally unstable mindset. The whole idea of the death penalty comes from global justice. this has led us to executing someone because of the crimes they have committed. some are you this is an over the cruel form of punishment.
in 1972 through 1976 there was a time where the death penalty was banned. Because it’s retribution towards criminals who have committed heinous crimes, many feel that the death penalty is justice. However it should be abolished because it is inhumane. In 1972, the Supreme Court stated that under the-existing laws ‘the imposition and carrying out of the death penalty… constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth amendment.’ (Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238). Over the years many methods of execution have played out. Since 1976 our execution methods have resulted in 3 firing squads, 3 hangings, 11 gas chambers, 160 electrocutions, and 1314 lethal injections. The US government as well as 32 states use lethal injections as their primary method. Unfortunately not all executions have gone as planned. One incident, an execution in Oklahoma was halted after the first of three lethal injection drugs were distributed after Clayton Lockett showed signs of consciousness and pain. The executioner discovered that the line delivering the drug “had blown”. Lockett had later died of a heart attack. Botched executions have been a problem for the American legal system. In a 2012 study published by the British Journal of American legal studies they found that 270 executions had involved “departures from the protocol of killing someone sentenced to death” in conclusion, the researchers found that 3% of executions in the United States were botched. They also found that lethal injections has had a higher botching rate than any other method.
Before these criminals meet their fate they are placed on hold in death row. while waiting for their execution date, these inmates are separated and isolated from others. Some may wait for their death day for months or even years. In some cases this may result in them becoming mentally unstable because of being alone for such a long period of time. This leads to some prisoners even attempting their own death by suicide. “The suicide rate of death row inmates was found to be 113 per 100,000 for the period 1976-1999,” which is ten times the rate of suicide in the united states. This occurs so often that this mental instability is known as the “death row phenomenon”. This is the emotional distress felt by the prisoners. This phenomenon is also known as death row syndrome which is a psychological disorder that inmates on death row can go through when they are put in isolation. According to some psychiatrist, to be on death row for so long, counting down the days until it’s your last, can fuel delusions and suicidal thoughts for these individuals. It can also cause insanity in forms that are dangerous. Some are you this is an overly cruel form of punishment.
Imagine being that prisoner counting down the days in your cell, thinking about how your wrongdoings have turned your whole life around. Some prisoners will find that they are sorry for their actions and could only hope for a second chance. But after committing such a heinous act do these criminals deserve our remorse? In 2008 after 33 years of being on death row, Jack Alderman was executed. he is known for the longest Life spent on death row before execution. Before his execution he had made a recorded statement thanking everyone who made his life better considering his circumstances. Soon after, Alderman’s lawyer Michael Seiml commented “He has been the model prisoner for 34 years. If that’s not enough for clemency, it’s hard to imagine what it is.” This is not to say that these criminals get absolute reentry into our society. A second chance often means letting someone have their life. In 1981 Stanley “Tookie” Williams was tried and convicted of four murders and two counts of robbery and was sentenced to death. Unfortunately he did not adjust well in prison, by the mid-80s Williams was given a six and a half year stay in solitary confinement because of multiple assaults on guards and other inmates. After two years in solitary he thought about his life choices and actions. He dedicated his good change to God and began speaking out against violence. In 1988 he filed for a federal appeal and told the court officials he was a changed man but unfortunately the appeal was denied. After solitary confinement in 1994 he begin writing a book, “Tookie Speaks out Against Gang Violence” which was the first of eight. One year later Williams wrote “ I am no longer part of the problem. Thanks to the Almighty, I am no longer sleepwalking through life,” as an apology for his role in creating the Crips. With time is it possible for people to turn their lives around. With the death penalty we are not giving those people the second chance they need to do so.
With the capital punishment, today our community has fallen into wanting global justice. Like the saying “an eye for an eye” when it comes to these fatal crimes we tend to seek vengeance. With this way of disposing our hurt we have no problem taking someone’s life who has taken another. To some this may seem justifiable but to others, executing a criminal is still murder. In 2014 a woman stabbed and killed her husband for raping her seven-year-old daughter. If we consider this woman a criminal for finding justice for her child by killing the rapist, then executioners should be considered criminals as well.
