CAPITAL PUNISHMENT;

Under Fire in the U.S.

Nick Johnson

For ten long years Jonathon Delle was on death row for kidnapping, raping, and murdering an eleven-year-old girl. On April 13, 1999 Jonathon, only 46, was executed by lethal injection. A month after Jonathon’s execution, breaking news came out that Jonathon was not the murderer. D.N.A. evidence found by investigators ten years ago in the girls hand and on her body was not looked into thoroughly.

Capital punishment is allowed in only 38 states today. Of these states Texas has the highest rate of execution. About 40% of countries practice capital punishment outside the U.S. People everywhere no matter their race disagree on the subject; should it be practiced or not is the question. Early forms of execution include beheading by axe or guillotine, hanging, and stoning. Executions over time have taken the forms of lethal injection, poisonous gas, or electrocution. More than 350 people from 1900-1985 have been proven innocent after being executed.

I strongly believe that execution should not be allowed anywhere in the modern world. Execution is inhuman and has damaging effects on society. Also, execution is immoral and people should be forgiven for their sins. Many people have suffered the death penalty, later only to be proven innocent.

The Bible tells us, "thou shall not kill," and the teachings of Jesus state that each man should be forgiven, no matter the sin. Whether the crime is murder or theft, a man should be forgiven. Capital punishment shows society that life has no value. This gives the wrong impression. People should never play god. People shouldn’t decide when a fellow civilian dies. God alone should decide a person’s fate. Evidence shows that the death penalty doesn’t deter a murder from murdering someone. Also the sanctity of life is the basis of the Judeo-Christian ethic. The greatest argument of all against capital punishment is the possibility of error. Life is too precious to have something like a small error decide whether a person lives or dies.

Some people look in the Old Testament and see that it says people that do certain crimes like adultery, murder, rape, or homosexuality should die by execution. Some believe say that executing a person who does a terrible crime is simply justice and punishes him for what he did in the first place. They add that killing a person also resolves the cost of having the person in jail from the state. Such people point out that executing someone stops the possibility of recidivism.

Yes, killing someone does prevent that person from a further possibility of committing crimes. However, it is much more important than that. Life is so valuable you should never take someone’s life, no matter the stakes. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Also, shouldn’t we set an example for the rest of society? Shouldn’t we show how valuable life is by not executing someone, whether they’re guilty or not?

If execution is banned forever from common practice, never again will a man like Jonathon Delle be wrongfully accused and be executed. Life is precious.

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