Making Killers of Us All
Personally, I believe the death penalty is wrong on a multitude of levels. I know this topic is widely debated throughout history as some people believe it's justified in the worst of crimes, others believe it's always justified, and others (like me) believe it should never be done. The death penalty, also known as capital punishment, is sentenced for various forms of murder, espionage, treason, drug related incidents, and other atrocious crimes. Some people believe the death penalty can give closure to victim's families, that justice is better served, and that our justice system shows more sympathy for criminals than it does the victims, and to reduce that, they believe we should just kill the criminals.
Obviously, criminals who commit such intense crimes don't deserve to get anything easy, and do deserve a life of hell, but I don't believe we should kill them especially when there are other options such as life in prison. Killing people who kill people because killing people is wrong is honestly just hypocrisy, because the government is doing exactly what they punished the criminal for. Yes they are different circumstances, but on a broad spectrum I believe that any type of killing is wrong, "justified" or not.
If you've ever read the non-fiction novel "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote, you know that the two criminals who murdered a family of four, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, were sentenced to the death penalty and though it took a while, were eventually killed by it. Obviously what they did was completely wrong and not something that can be forgiven, but I don't believe they should have been sentenced to it. Not only is capital punishment wrong overall, but one of the criminals, Perry Smith, had been suspected of having a mental illness (possibly schizophrenia or psychosis) while Dick Hickock may have been a psychopath as he had pretty much no remorse for the killings and Smith actually did. If I'm being honest, I feel some sympathy for those that experience mental illness as I have my own personal experience with it, and that makes me believe even further that they should not have died that way. That being said, mental illness is never an excuse for murder but they could have been given a punishment of life in prison instead, as that would have truly made them realize the magnitude of what they had done.
Lastly, the Constitution even makes an argument against the death penalty. The eighth amendment states that there should be "no cruel and unusual punishment" and I think the death penalty is something that is "cruel and unusual". There have been countless people convicted who have possibly been innocent, and this makes capital punishment even more disgusting to me. When the government kills someone by reason of the death penalty, they could possibly be killing an innocent person just like you or me.
The fact of the matter is, killing killers won't bring back the victims. If I was someone who had lost someone to murder, I would not feel any better if their killer was dead, the person I lost would still be gone and nothing is going to change that, especially killing someone else.
Obviously, criminals who commit such intense crimes don't deserve to get anything easy, and do deserve a life of hell, but I don't believe we should kill them especially when there are other options such as life in prison. Killing people who kill people because killing people is wrong is honestly just hypocrisy, because the government is doing exactly what they punished the criminal for. Yes they are different circumstances, but on a broad spectrum I believe that any type of killing is wrong, "justified" or not.
If you've ever read the non-fiction novel "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote, you know that the two criminals who murdered a family of four, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, were sentenced to the death penalty and though it took a while, were eventually killed by it. Obviously what they did was completely wrong and not something that can be forgiven, but I don't believe they should have been sentenced to it. Not only is capital punishment wrong overall, but one of the criminals, Perry Smith, had been suspected of having a mental illness (possibly schizophrenia or psychosis) while Dick Hickock may have been a psychopath as he had pretty much no remorse for the killings and Smith actually did. If I'm being honest, I feel some sympathy for those that experience mental illness as I have my own personal experience with it, and that makes me believe even further that they should not have died that way. That being said, mental illness is never an excuse for murder but they could have been given a punishment of life in prison instead, as that would have truly made them realize the magnitude of what they had done.
Lastly, the Constitution even makes an argument against the death penalty. The eighth amendment states that there should be "no cruel and unusual punishment" and I think the death penalty is something that is "cruel and unusual". There have been countless people convicted who have possibly been innocent, and this makes capital punishment even more disgusting to me. When the government kills someone by reason of the death penalty, they could possibly be killing an innocent person just like you or me.
The fact of the matter is, killing killers won't bring back the victims. If I was someone who had lost someone to murder, I would not feel any better if their killer was dead, the person I lost would still be gone and nothing is going to change that, especially killing someone else.
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