Creative piece

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/facts-about-deterrence-and-death-penalty

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/capitalpunishment/against_1.shtml                  

http://oadp.org/facts/13-reasons

Two wrongs don’t make a right – why the death penalty is wrong and even the worst of us still have the right to live – speech

Article 2 of the Human Rights Act 1998 – the right to life. The first and most important human right stated in the act. Yes, the majority of people on death row have taken someone else’s right to life away, but does that mean their life should automatically be taken away from them when found guilty of murder? Their most basic right violated? Do two wrongs make a right? Everyone knows that the answer to these questions are no. Seeing that murder is palpably wrong, and everyone knows and has been taught that from a young age, that murder is a punishable crime, then what is the point of the death penalty? What is it teaching us?

Think of the torture INNOCENT people go through when wrongly accused of murder and sentenced to death row, let alone the guilty criminals! The statistics on this matter is shocking; over 150 innocent human beings were set to endure the most inhumane experience anyone could possibly receive – life on death row (with the average time spent their being 11 years) – and tens of innocent people have been wrongly found guilty of murder and subsequently killed due to the death penalty, and yes ALL innocent. Imagine being that innocent person, knowing that a human error of misjudgement in the court will lead to the most inhumane experience happening to you – an innocent person. Or the person whose job it is to end the lives on death row, knowing deep down that they are guilty, but their life MUST come to an end, and you have the job of ending that innocent person’s life. Sickening. Luckily many convicts were eventually found not guilty, but still it is inexplicable that anyone can go through the terror of knowing they could be killed any minute of any day, be it they are innocent or not, for 11 years.

Forget the direct victims of this terrible idea, think for a second of the indirect victims. Imagine you were part of the firing squad – your job being to end the lives of others, the cruellest, most disgusting and most inhumane job there is on earth. How would you feel? Knowing how you pay your bills, how you are able to put food on the table, is to KILL other human beings. Yes human beings. These poor victims of this cruel penalty must be scarred for life. MANY workers on death row end up having terrible disorders such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is sickening, for both the criminal and the workers. Think of how their family members are affected. Their children, who may be frequently asked in schools “what do your parents do for a living”. They would need to reply with the utterly embarrassing statement of being part of the firing squad, to kill people on death row. How would you feel if you were that child? Having to share that your parent is essentially a murderer!

One of the main reasons for the death penalty is to act as a warning to other would-be criminals, where you would believe that is has a huge effect at dissuading serious crimes to be committed, especially the ones which merit a place on death row. So, what effect does the death penalty have? You may ask. The answer is little. Very little. The fact that the death penalty has minimal effect on dissuading criminals from murdering people or committing crimes resulting in being sentenced to death is both laughable and saddening. Multiple surveys from the United States show that there is an overwhelming majority of leading criminologists believing that the death penalty does NOT act as a deterrent to homicide crimes, and states where the death penalty is allowed have a higher homicide rate - 5% in 100,000 people – compared to states which have abolished the death penalty at 4% in 100,000 people! An incredible statistic with disgusting results. Capital punishment being pointless is an understatement.

I would like to conclude this by stating that not only is the death penalty inhumane and ineffective at stopping crimes, but the death penalty is essentially a lottery to when it is used - of the average 16,000 murders committed every year in the US, only around 120 of the defendants get killed – a measly 1%. With this being the case, why even have the death penalty? If only 1% of murderers will be sentenced to death row? Imagine being part of that 1%, knowing the vast majority of all other criminals will be able to live the rest of their lives, but yours must come to an abrupt end because of this ridiculous, lottery-esque excuse of REVENGE, not JUSTICE.

Thank you for listening.