AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! A piercing scream comes from the execution room. Carlos Deluna, a 27-year-old man is receiving the death penalty for murder. As the chemicals are choking him to death, he is slowly becoming unconscious. He gasps for air, but the chemical is so strong that it blocks him. Then, finally, he expires in agony. It seems like he paid for what he did. Prior to his sentencing, there were two witnesses saying that they saw him stab the gas station attendant. This clearly shows that Carlos killed the young woman. However, he turned out to be innocent. There was a real killer, Carlos Hernandez, who looked very similar to Deluna. He had a history of slashing people with his buck knife. He bragged about his murder to others. Later, he was arrested for attacking his neighbor with a knife, but he didn’t receive the death penalty, after Deluna’s unfair death. The death penalty can kill many innocent people and there are some reasons why it shouldn’t be implemented.
The death penalty is irreversible, which can take an innocent life . Once you kill a person, they cannot live again. Innocent lives would be taken away for no reason. The National Academy of Sciences determined that at least 4% of people on death penalty were and are likely innocent. They wouldn’t have a chance to live the life they were supposed to and the real criminal would be living a happy life instead, like Deluna’s case. The families and loved ones will never gain closure. Since they lost their beloved, they would have to suffer from the pain forever. If they are innocent, the pain would be worse. In addition, they will feel immense anger towards the injustice of the legal system.
Secondly, criminals don’t deter. Many people believe that the death penalty can reduce crime, but this isn’t true. For example, Canada has abolished the death penalty in 1976. In 2003, their murder rate has decreased by 44%. Professor Fagan, a professor of law at Columbia University in the US said, "There is no credible scientific evidence that the death penalty deters criminal behavior". This evidence clearly shows how the death penalty has no factoring influence when it comes to acts of crime.
Finally, it is not humane. There are several ways of the death penalty including hanging, shooting, electric chairs, and lethal injection. Among these, lethal injection is considered the kindest, painless way of execution, but it causes a lot of pain, too. "If the IV isn't placed in the vein as it's supposed to be, or it's injected too fast so that some of the medication leaks out of the vein, that drug can cause actual chemical burns," Dr. Groner, a professor of surgery said. The chemicals are so toxic that it took 34 minutes for a man to die, looking like he was receiving torture. Killing cannot be humane in any way because it causes pain and suffering for the victim.
Death penalty still exists today and is an issue that is debated worldwide. Some agree that people should get death penalty to serve justice for the victims. On the contrary, proponents against the idea of the death penalty agree that even criminals deserve humane treatment. Overall, I believe that death sentencing shouldn’t be implemented for 3 reasons: it is irreversible, it doesn’t deter crimes, and is inhumane. Death sentencing is not a justifiable course of action for the person receiving punishment, their loved ones, and the legal system as it has many holes. If the death penalty continues, there will surely be more innocent deaths. Therefore, we should ban it.
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