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by Derek R. Burrows '00 There are over 3000 people on death row today in the United States. Forty states have legalized the death penalty. It remains a contentious and controversial issue in our society. Should we have the death penalty? Is the death penalty just? I believe that the death penalty is wrong--and it is wrong for many reasons. The first reason is philosophical: I believe that taking a life for whatever reason is wrong. I believe it is not in any person's place to decide whether someone dies, even if it is a few people in a jury. The death penalty is the ultimate and most violent form of punishment. It is irreversible. It is a violation to life proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which applies to the United States. Another reason I have is more pragmatic: The death penalty does not work. It does not deter violent crime. It is arbitrary and unfair. It simply inflicts more pain to people and is a waste of our justice system's resources. The death penalty is arbitrary and unfair. Less than one-percent of convicted murderers in this country are sentenced to death-Ņand it is not just the "most horrendous" criminals who are targeted. There is a severe discrepancy between those get the death penalty and those who don't. Racial minorities, the poor, the under-educated are among those who are victims of this bias. The reasons are manifold. Prosecutors who seek the death penalty are usually elected and are pressed by public support, which is more often tilted against poor minorities rather than the affluent. Prosecutors have been shown to seek the death penalty far more often when the victim is white rather than of another race. Black jurors have often been removed from these murder cases with no stated reason. Those without proper financial resources are the ones assigned inexperienced public defendants. The death penalty is indeed what some call "the privilege of the poor." Many supporters of the death penalty cite the cost of keeping people in prison. However, because the average person on death row is able to appeal about nine times, the costs of having the death penalty are actually much greater. Some states have attempted to limit the number of appeals, but state and federal courts have ruled that such measures are unconstitutional. The cost to taxpayers will always be greater with the death penalty rather than without it. In the United States, juveniles can be killed as well. At least 24 states allow the execution of people under 18 years-old. This is a clear violation of international human rights treaties and standards. Also, those suffering severe mental handicaps and disorders can also be killed. Because most of these prisoners are kept on death row for a decade--and often more--their death is very gradual. It is cruel and degrading. The only thing they look forward to day after day is their immanent death. Many suffer from extreme psychological problems. Since 1983 at least 54 people diagnosed as mentally ill or with mental retardation have been executed. President Clinton, while governor in Arkansas, traveled home during the 1992 campaign to show his pro-capital punishment position by allowing the execution of a mentally-retarded young man. The Supreme Court has ruled that the execution of insane prisoners is unconstitutional. Those suffering mental disorders are required to be treated in prison. They are often forcibly treated with a variety of drugs to make them mentally and physically healthy so that they can be "properly killed". These are just a few reasons I feel that the death penalty is wrong. Even if one believes that it is ideologically just, it is much more difficult to defend the success of the death penalty. Whether moral or not, the death penalty does not work.
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