Capital punishment should be abolished because it violates the constitution and is ineffective, irrevocable, and cruel. Although the constitution guarantees equal protection for all citizens, capital punishment violates that right because it is disproportionately applied, with minorities, the poor, and illiterates being the most victims of the death penalty. It also violates the condemned individual’s right to life, which is enshrined in the constitution (Sudarshan, 2020). Capital punishment is ineffective in reducing violent crime compared to other strategies, such as gun control, increasing law enforcement officers on the streets, and curbing drug use. Unlike other forms of punishment, the death penalty cannot be revoked once it is implemented (Sudarshan, 2020). Therefore, it involves the risk of killing innocent persons who would otherwise benefit from new evidence. Some people are likely to be executed for crimes they never committed due to possible inevitable errors in the criminal justice system. The punishment is cruel, mainly when applied to lesser offenses disproportional to its harm. Therefore, capital punishment should be abolished and other effective alternatives such as long-term imprisonment adopted.
The federal government criminal justice system can impose capital punishment on certain crimes. The penalty can be imposed for murder, treason, attempted murder of a court officer or a witness in certain cases, and large scale-drug trafficking (Sudarshan, 2020). Although capital punishment is legal under the federal government’s criminal justice system, some states have abolished it. According to Death Penalty Information Center (2021), 23 states including Alaska, Colorado, Virginia, Delaware, Washington, New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and others have eliminated capital punishment. Equally, three states have temporarily prohibited capital punishment, including Oregon, California, and Pennsylvania.
Numerous capital punishment cases are recorded in the United States criminal justice system. For example, the case of Naish Ra’id, who was given a death sentence on October 29, 2004 (Death Penalty Information Center). The punishment was imposed on Ra’id (African American) for the murder of two bank employees during an attempted robbery at an Indiana bank in 2002 (Death Penalty Information Center). Ra’id’s case was the first in the Northern District of Indiana’s federal court system.
References
Death Penalty Information Center. (2021). State by State: States with and without the death penalty – 2021. DPIC. Web.
Death Penalty Information Center. (n.d.). Case summaries for modern federal death sentences. DPIC. Web.
Sudarshan, S. (2020). The irrevocability of capital punishment and active voluntary euthanasia 1. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 38(3), 431–443. Web.