Maria Alguacil

April 12, 2016

Death Penalty
Since childhood we have been taught the difference between good
and wrong, but especially that take the life of other living being is the
worse act that a person can commit. But from ancient time death
execution has been used as a way of justice. In United States, capital
punishment has been always a subject of argument because of many
different reasons, which are given by those who are against and in favor
of it. It is undeniable that a murder is the action of taking the life of other
person. Therefore is impossible not to ask what is the difference between
a killer and its executor?
In 1972 the majority of the jury in the Supreme Court adduced that
the death penalty was a violation to the eighth amendment of the
constitution, reason why it was abolished, yet reintegrated few years
later after the suggestion of a new legislation. With thirty-one states
reinstating the capital punishment and nineteen states against it, the
United States became, since 1976 the only industrialized country in the
world, which apply death penalty. The death penalty is favored by some as an
effective dissuasive of crime, however it is a fact that death penalty does not deter crime,
but that does not have any effect in it. As is known most of the killers commit a homicide
under the heat of passion, insanity, drugs or alcohol, which means that they cannot make
rational decisions on a fear of future consequences. In the adaptation made by David Blot
from Kerry Kennedys article Abolish Capital Punishment states that The desire to
impose the death penalty is an understandable reaction to the anger, fear, and frustration
that follow a murder therefore a capricious that seeks to reduce the emotions of the
victims family.
Without doubt, death penalty is the ultimate punishment for a crime, because it cannot
be reverting, but what can be accomplish by putting someone in the death row? Opponents
to the death penalty adjudge that it is morally and ethically wrong because take the life of
someone else is a murder therefore, whether the case is between a killer and its victim, or
the government and a killer, the death penalty is wrong. While people who are in favor of
the capital punishment state that it can serve as a lesson for those who are thinking of acts
that can be consider to deserve death penalty, also because it keeps the criminal from
committing a new crime. Many people also claim that the death of a killer bring a feeling of

closure to the familys victim, but the truth is that most people do not feel that watching
someone else die helps them to move on in any way (Cassell & Bedau, 2005).

I strongly believe that death penalty should be completely abolish, not just because
another person will become a killer by killing a criminal, but also because I believe that by
killing a criminal the government is giving him/her a sort of scape to her/his crimes.
Besides it costs more money to keep a criminal on the death row than keep him/her in
prison for life(Kerry Kennedy) because the government would have to pay for lawyers,
more security guards, and more disputes in the court also because these kind of cases can
take even 20 years before the accused get kill. Besides there exist cases where innocent
people are executed by a mistake. Carlos De Lunas case in 1989 became one of the many
victims of the system imperfection when he get executed by a crime that he didnt commit,
but because he was violating his parole of drinking in public and was near to the scene of
crime, the police blame him even though that the eyewitness that resulted to be the real
murder was also a criminal with a long history of knife attacks similar to the murder.
Moreover, it has been prove that the executor of a killer can present PTSD or posttraumatic
stress after taking the life of a prisoner in the death row, which means that even though the
government is taking the live of a killer, it is also creating another killer that can even be
more dangerous. Therefore I support the idea of the death penaltys opponents, criminals
should be imprisoned for the rest of their life without parole, so the government wont
violate his/her rights as it is the right of life.
Finally, crime has been part of our society since the beginning, and it will remain with
society until it ends. Nothing will stop some people from committing violent acts, and the
death penalty does not appear to be the answer. Therefore I am in complete agreement with
the opponents to the death penalty. Criminals should not have the opportunity to die easily,
but to suffer in life the damages that they caused.