Alexandria Conti
ENGL138T
An End to Capital Punishment
The first written codes of law were recorded in Ancient Babylonia in the year 1772 B.C.
These 282 laws were known as the Code of Hammurabi, and they were enforced by the sixth,
and arguably the most powerful, Babylonian King of the same name. “An eye for an eye, a tooth
for a tooth,” was etched on the stone, effectively establishing the first form of law the world had
ever known. Capital punishment, otherwise known as the death sentence, a legal process in
which a person may be sentenced to death for a committed crime, was also laid out in this
document. Twenty-five crimes at the time were punishable by death. Funny enough, murder was
not one of them.
The death penalty has been a hotly debated topic ever since it made its debut in these
ancient times. Those that are pro-death penalty argue a variety of reasons, all of which can be,
and have been, debunked or discredited. Those that are anti-death penalty, such as myself, have
made great strides in the abolishment of this horrid practice. The first great step came shortly
after capital punishment made its way to the Americas.
In 1791, an amendment was added to the United States Constitution that promised a
number of personal freedoms to the people of the nation. The colonial men and women of this
time rejoiced, for they would be oppressed no longer. Finally, a nation in which all were equal,
in which all had rights, in which all could start anew. This amendment that founded the nation
was known of the Bill of Rights and it consisted of a series of several smaller amendments, each
dictating what would be considered right and what would be considered wrong. One such
addition was the Eighth Amendment. Within this verse, the federal government was banned from
imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishment.
“Cruel and unusual punishments [shall not be] inflicted,” the document read. Shortly after
its ratification, this vague term of cruel and unusual punishment was defined by one Justice
William Brennan during the case of Furman v. Georgia. Punishments must not be degrading to
human dignity, absolutely rejected throughout society, patently unnecessary, or “obviously
inflicted in wholly arbitrary fashion.” Wholly arbitrary fashion meant that the penalty of a certain
crime must not exceed the context of the crime itself. In this fashion, someone could not be
sentenced to twenty years in prison for the simple crime of stealing a candy bar. The decision of
Furman v. Georgia effectively placed a moratorium on capital punishment throughout the United
States that would stay in place for the next five years.
If only this bond were to stay, but good things are not known to last forever. The ban on
capital punishment was lifted in the Gregg v. Georgia case of 1976, in which the death sentence
was imposed upon Troy Leon Gregg for the crime of murder. Ever since, it has been up to
individual states to ban this barbaric practice. Before a state makes a move towards abolishment,
it must understand the ramifications the death penalty brings.
Wrongful execution is the number one issue that the nation faces when it chooses to
legalize capital punishment. As soon as one person is put to death for a crime he did not commit,
the system falls in on itself. A practice that is meant for punishment has now slain an innocent,
the ultimate offense an institution can commit. Sadly enough, this offense has occurred on
multiple occasions.
Wrongful execution has been brought about by several holes in the United States Justice
System. In some cases, new DNA evidence has surfaced in which sentenced persons were
identified as innocent. In other cases, reports have been released that have identified corruption
in the justice system itself. One such cases involves the execution of Leo Jones in 1998. Jones
was put to death after he confessed to murdering a policeman in Florida. However, this
confession only came about after Jones was brutally beaten by cops who, during interrogation,
forced the man to play Russian roulette. These police officers were promptly fired, but that
cannot bring back the life that was lost.
There are several more documented cases of these hideous offenses. In fact, since 1992
there have been fifteen death row inmates exonerated or pardoned based on new DNA evidence
surfacing in their crimes that have identified these men as innocent. Thankfully, these men were
freed before their lives were wrongfully terminated. Yet why take the chance? How many more
men are waiting on death row that have no reason to be there? It simply is not worth the risk.
Of course, when discussing morals, the well-being of the victim’s family must be
considered as well. The family deserves justice just as much as the victim does, yet the type of
justice must be taken into consideration. While the execution of the criminal may seem like the
correct solution at the time, it must be remembered that two wrongs simply do not make a right.
“An eye for an eye” may have worked for the Babylonians, but the times are more advanced than
that. Justice systems have developed, so punishments should have, too. Besides, the death
penalty happens to be a long, uncertain process. After waiting through the lengthy trail, a
sentenced man can wait around seventeen years for his execution to be carried out. All the while,
the victim’s family waits for the sentenced to be carried out. In some cases, a death sentence can
easily turn into a life-without-parole case, leaving the victim’s family feeling as if they were lied
to. Life-without-parole cases, on the other hand, result in sentences that are carried out
immediately. In these cases, a victim’s family sees justice immediately and are guaranteed
closure.
The monetary price of capital punishment always comes up in debate. It’s assumed that it
costs less to kill a man than to keep him in prison for life. Quite the contrary, actually. By the
time a death penalty case has run its course, usually these cases take over six years to complete, a
life-without-parole case would have been finished for nearly four years. The pre-trail and trial
costs, automatic appeals and state Habeas Corpus petitions, federal Habeas Corpus appeals, and
costs of incarceration prior to execution that all result from a death penalty trail end up costing
exponentially more than the costs of a life-without-parole trail, sentencing, and incarceration.
Financially, capital punishment does not hold the higher-hand when compared with life-withoutparole cases.
Capital punishment, once legal in fifty states, is now only legal in thirty-two states.
Slowly but surely, the nation has begun opening its eyes to the wrongful practice that this
happens to be. Strides are being made every day for the abolishment of the death penalty, and
soon enough the boorish practice will be obliterated all together. Until that day, though, the
opposition continues to fight.