This article is an editorial and was written to show the author’s stance on an issue. It is not a representation of the opinion of CLHS or CCISD.

America’s first execution of a criminal occurred in 1622 and 400 years later the death penalty is still used to bring justice to America’s most vile and unapologetically evil criminals.

The criminals that are put on death row are there on the basis that their crimes are unforgivable.  However, this is not what happens with every case. There is a chance that there was an error with the defendant’s trial. Detectives and investigators could’ve made an error, the jury could’ve been swayed, or they could have arrested the wrong man. The death penalty should be replaced with life in prison in order to help prevent wrongful conviction.

Advocates for the death penalty claim the death penalty is important for deterring other would-be-criminals from committing the same crimes and for bringing some form of closure to the victims’ families. Advocates against the death penalty say it is immoral, ineffective for deterrence, and often wrong in who is sentenced.

Morally, the death penalty can be viewed as barbaric or justice to criminals, but that such justice would not be worth the twelve percent of cases resulting in a wrongful conviction.

Often times, most of these cases are not proven innocent until after the execution has taken place. A twelve percent failure rate would get any product pulled from shelves, and it is unacceptable for human lives too.

According to a poll conducted by Lake Research Partners, a majority of voters, including police officers, (61%) would also like to see some alternative to the death penalty. A 2009 poll conducted by the death penalty information center found police chiefs ranked insufficient use of the death penalty last among ways to reduce violent crime. A less important factor that should also be noted is how Texas spends 2.5 million dollars on average for an execution, which would be the same cost as keeping a prisoner in jail for 40 years.

It is clear that the death penalty should be replaced with life in prison. Life in prison is still justice, avoids any chance of wrongful executions, and still acts as a deterrence. Innocent defendants shouldn’t have to keep dying at the hands of the justice system for things they didn’t do.

Sources:

https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/innocence

https://files.deathpenaltyinfo.org/legacy/documents/topline.DPIC.DPNDP.pdf

https://documents.deathpenaltyinfo.org/pdf/FactSheet.pdf

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/history-of-the-death-penalty/