               Over the course of human history there has been a familiar system of law and order that helps to maintain order and justice in society. Through time these judicial systems have drastically changed due to the ever changing world.  The one thing that seemingly remains the same throughout is that for every unjust action… there is a just punishment. The levels of punishment are put in place depending on the level of crime that was committed. These penalties have altered from the barbaric times of flogging/stoning, to the more humane ways like community service or possible time in prison. But even through hundreds of years of development and modernization of the United States, there is still one thread of punishment that remains still in place. This is known to the world as the death penalty. This technique of punishment has been a controversial topic through these modern times and for good reasoning. There are many negative connotations attached to the penalty because for the most part it is an inadequate way of punishing people for their crimes. The use of capital punishment should cease to exist because of the inaccuracy of the judicial system, the lack of ethical reasoning and the idea that murder is not a humane way to punish a lawbreaker. 

               First things first there is a need for discussion on what exactly capital punishment is for those who are unsure what it actually entitles. Capital punishment is defined as “The legally authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime,” (Dictionary), in other terms called the Death Penalty. For the most part the types of criminals that receive this level of punishment are convicted of murder and similar capital crimes like aggravated/felony murder, but it is interchangeable due to the actions committed by the perpetrator. The use of the death penalty has been around for hundreds of years and acted out in different ways. There have been many cases that have use the methods of hanging, firing squad, electric chair or now commonly practiced lethal injection. There are still thirty-one states that still include the death penalty, some of which include; Alabama, Texas, Florida and California. The process in which the penalty is used goes as follows; there is a trial set forth for the convicted person(s), then a verdict must be reached of whether guilty or not guilty, then the jury will impose a unanimous decision on to enact the death penalty or give the defendant life without parole. Once a death penalty decision is made then the person will remain in prison located in a specific section of the prison described as “Death Row”. This is where they will await their execution date which can take between roughly between five-fifteen years. Then if no further evidence was found during the time of conviction to execution, then the penalties will take place. Depending on the state and availability of each type of execution one of which will be chosen to be carried out. After which everything is finalized and the system continues to move like clockwork. There are much further details that are involved in every process of the death penalty, but the basis is especially needed to know by the general public. This process has been around for far too long and it is time for its run to come to an end. 

            There have been many cases in recent history that have had to deal with the decision of using the death penalty. Although many court systems and juries have successfully found zero doubt within their decision to find someone guilty. There have also been many reported cases in which the defendant was actually innocent even though found to be responsible for the illegal actions. These findings had eventually been found years into their death row sentence, or unfortunately found after their punishment by death. This important fact was explained greatly by writer Karen Miller in her novel of “Wrongful Capital Convictions and the Legitimacy of the Death Penalty”. She discusses a time in Illinois back in 2003, that Governor George Ryan had reviewed over one-hundred and fifty cases of convicted felons and ended up commuting one-hundred and sixty-seven inmates to life sentences, rather than death sentences. Miller had also written in her novel that “Governor Ryan pardoned four inmates whom he believed were wrongfully convicted…” (Miller 4), all four of which were just about to executed until he had a chance to review their cases. Since the world today does not have a one hundred percent surefire way of finding an admission of guilt, there should not be a penalty as excessive and permanent as capital punishment. Many things can ultimately go wrong during a trial or even at the very end during the courts finding. Mistakes can be made on the court systems side and something so small and seemingly irrelevant can alter many people’s lives forever. The death penalty is something that is entirely too severe and monumental to be placed in common people’s hands or even a single judge. And this type of situation has happened way to often to be considered a minor hiccup in the judicial system. Innocent lives are being lost due to a wrongful decision making and their friends/family have to suffer the consequences of these mistakes alongside them. Now to many activists for the death penalty, these numbers may seem minor in comparison to the total number of death row inmates in the recent years. But no matter how small the numbers, any number at all makes a huge statement. There was a study done recently in 2014 from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that stated “Since 1973, 144 people on death row have been exonerated…as a percentage of all death sentences, that’s just 1.6 percent. With an innocence rate of 4.1 percent…”. What these numbers mean is that there is a lower percentage of people being relieved of their deathly punishment, while a number more than twice as high of people being found innocent either while living or post execution. It is a scary fact of life that there could be many people that are unknowingly killed off for something they did not do, and then when it is too late they have a chance of being acquitted. In the end whether it is one life or one thousand, no matter the difference someone is still being forced to pay the ultimate price for a crime that they have not committed. Not only do those people get their poor lives cut short, but the families/friends of those people will have their whole world shaken up. These people should not have their lives greatly affected due to any sort of miscalculation in the court room. Even the men and women that are rightfully convicted still have families that will be distraught over a death of someone they love or once loved. 

        Through the use of capital punishment there is also the conflicted idea that the lawbreaker is getting off of their crime easier than having to suffer in prison. The whole idea of committing a crime is that there are harsh repercussions that come along with getting caught. For example, spending life in prison without a chance of parole. But with the death penalty it seems as if the court system is allowing the perpetrators to be exempt from their actions and are given a painless way out. In many instances people that commit heinous crimes that would subject them to the death penalty are already in the state of mind that they might not survive after the crimes are committed. Just like how a mentally deranged gunman will harm innocent people but be ready to die in the process. They have already set their mind to committing the horrible acts and that a chance of survival more than likely will not be high. That is why even after they are persecuted they are given exactly what they want… to harm people and then leave the earth as that is last thing they do. So in actuality giving a deranged person the death penalty is giving into their exact demands. Instead they should be given life in prison to be forced to live the harsh and routine life that succumbs to being imprisoned. They should have to suffer for their actions and possibly even get healthier mentally. A life sentence to a person could really change who they are as a human, this gives them a strong chance of rehabilitation which is the point of the judicial system…to make those who have done wrong learn from their mistakes. It is a staple of the United States government that people should be able to learn from their mistakes and grow as a human. Instead these people are given about five to fifteen years to go through prison and reflect on what they’ve done, then imminently after they are put to death and unable to show the possible good that they learned from being in prison. Now even though they will remain in prison for the rest of their life, they still could have a chance to change other inmates lives or even people considering the terrible crimes that they have committed. The use of the death penalty does nothing but painlessly let someone free of the harsh actions that they committed. Now on the other hand there are many people that firmly believe that this punishment is justifiable due to the actions of the convicted. Whether or not that can be true is a matter of opinion, but with the power and leadership of the U.S. government they should not lower their ethical values in order to enact a type of revenge. Just because someone has chosen an awful road to go down does not mean that they should be punished in a similar act. It is not right by the government to feel that it is necessary to succumb to their level of inhumanity. The correct approach should be a life sentencing to make the person possibly have a chance to write their wrongs.  How is anyone supposed to suffer the consequences of their actions and grow as a person from their mistakes if they are killed off by their own government and leaders. Which breaks a cardinal rule of life that is taught and implanted into every person in the world… it is wrong to kill.

      The United States along with the rest of the world has done a great job in their crusade against violence and homicide. Murder rates in the United States have dropped significantly over the past twenty years. That is due to the constant fight for change all across the country, from the smallest towns to the largest cities. Now with all the positive work that the government has done in order to stop violent crimes, one fact still remains the same. How could the government not seem hypocritical in that they use violence to punish offenders, but then turn around to speak so highly against it. Violence in any way should never be the answer to a problem, especially one as great as the crimes that people commit. This is not a good message to be sending to the people of this country especially the youth. It is seemingly used for a good thing in the end but at what cost. It is demonstrating that violence is completely justifiable if looked at in the right light. How could these children possibly understand the difference from right and wrong if the people that are supposedly teaching them are breaking the very same rules that they enlist to follow. As the days go on the children are the future of this world and the message that is being displayed is not a good one. This gives them the idea that an “An Eye for an Eye” is a completely rational thing to do. What they do not understand is that it is implanting the wrong belief that people should lower their values in order to get back at someone that wronged them. This is an immature and completely irrational concept that only ends up in even further destruction. What should be taught by the leaders of this great country the classic saying of, “Fight Fire with Fire and you just get burned”. By removal of capital punishment, it will send a greater message to the people of the world and especially the delicate minds of this country’s future. 

                In the modern world of today, the United States government should put an end to the Death Penalty due to its level of permanence, the chances that someone can be wrongfully convicted, and that it is an immoral way of punishment.  The judicial system of the U.S. does a great job by convicting the people that deserve it, but they have made some serious mistakes in the past. There have been many lives lost due an innocent person being sentenced to the death penalty. Those errors cannot happen and should not continue to be made. But as mankind has dictated, everyone is not perfect and inaccuracies can very well be made. Along with the decision making of the court, it is just not ethical in any situation for a leading body such as the judicial system to demonstrate the fact that they are committing the similar acts of those that are imprisoned. How could the people of this country believe and rely on a system that says one thing and does another? Instead they should be teaching that even with the harshest of criminals everyone deserves a second chance at correcting their wrongs through simple rehabilitation.

                     The future of the United States may not be in the hands of one individual citizen, but if enough people stand up and fight this absolutely absurd law then differences can be made. If many people begin to understand the specifics about the death penalty, then they will be more likely to want to change it. There are many different ways people can help make this change, either by petitions, protests, or expanding anti-capital punishment groups like the NCADP (National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty). There are many alternatives to put in place of the death penalty, for example solitary confinement rooming for a life sentencing. There could also be the options of counseling, rehabilitation classes, and other activities to attempt to change or alter the mindset of the people going to jail. Even if those classes do not get through to the inmates, then at least they are still serving their jail time as their punishment. All these ideas can help to better the convicted and attempt to make them a better person, just how they use prison time, fines, and parole for less major offenders. The world today is changing every moment in so many ways that it could be hard to keep up, but the law of capital punishment needs to change with it. The United States of America has been through many terrible events and time periods that have all come to an end. Slavery and equality for women are right alongside capital punishment as things that were seemingly the norm but in reality were appalling. They might have seemed natural and normal back in those times, but in the modern world of today people wonder how they even were allowed. Capital punishment is an awful law that needs to change for the greater good of the future of the United States of America. 
