“Congress or any state legislature may prescribe the death penalty, also known as capital punishment, for murder and other capital crimes” (law.cornell.edu). Any state may issue the death penalty, but is it ethical to do so? The system has many flaws, it is costly, it denies basic human rights, and has and could be the reason of many innocent deaths. This practice of the death penalty is outdated, unethical, and too flawed to be actively used in our criminal justice system.

The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty or the NCADP have made efforts in getting rid of the death penalty and have summarized their progress with the statement of “Together with our state and national partners we have won a string of victories for the death penalty abolition movement. Six states in six years have said no to capital punishment” (NCADP). This shows that there are people that realize that capital punishment is an unethical practice and care enough to do something about it whether it be through petitions, protests, etc. There are 32 states with the death penalty still in effect (Death Penalty Information Center). Eighteen states have abolished the death penalty, that is just over ⅓ of the United States. Over one hundred countries such as England, Australia, and Canada have completely gotten rid of the death penalty years ago.

The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights outlines what all people should be entitled to at birth. Capital punishment or the death penalty violates articles 3 and 5 of 

the Declaration. In article 3 of the declaration it states that “Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person” (UN). The United Nations or UN is stating that all humans have the right to live a fair life and the death penalty violates this because it denies the right of life. Article 5 reads “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” (UN). Since capital punishment can be seen as so extreme it is also sometimes looked upon and considered as inhuman treatment/punishment. 

Capital punishment is costly due to criminal investigations and the long due process,  “A 2003 legislative audit in Kansas found that the estimated cost of a death penalty case was 70% more than the cost of a comparable non-death penalty case” (Amnesty USA). The death penalty system can cost a drastic amount more than a system without the death penalty in effect, such is the case in Maryland where it costs 3 times more. Not only is it costly, but the death penalty is funded through the government and the government gets its money from taxes. Instead of the taxpayer’s dollar going towards other activities that are beneficial to society such as crime prevention, emergency services, schools, and public health it is funding an outdated punishment. Even more so “the astronomical costs associated with putting a person on death row - including criminal investigations, lengthy trials and appeals - are leading many states to reevaluate and reconsider having this flawed and unjust system on the books.”(Amnesty USA). This is just a logical issue in which the states are asking themselves: Why pay more for a system that has this many hiccups? With any logic at all the simple solution is you do not pay for it, you just get rid of it.

The sentence can be wrongly sentenced or given out, which has led many states and countries to discontinue its use. According to a Columbia University study “state courts are overworked -- and underfunded -- to the point they can no longer monitor the quality of cases passing through the system” (CNN). This is shown in the BBC documentary Crime and Punishment - The Story of Capital Punishment through the case of Edward Johnson, a man on death row in Mississippi. Despite having evidence suggesting that he was innocent, Johnson was executed in a gas chamber May 20, 1987.  Amnesty International states an intimidating fact that “Since humans are fallible, the risk of executing the innocent can never be eliminated.” (Amnesty USA). For instance, in 1991 the Birmingham Six and Guildford Four were declared innocent and released from prison after 15 years. If the death penalty had still been in effect during the time they were sentenced, the accused would have been executed. There have been instances where the accused are not so lucky. People have been executed and later found to be in fact innocent. Humans make mistakes and are not perfect which leads to someone being given the death penalty who is innocent causing the system to be flawed to the point where it has no place in the criminal justice system.

There are some that say the death penalty has a place in the criminal justice system. They say “Justice is better served” (Messerli). Essentially meaning that the crime such as murder should be matched by a penalty similar like capital punishment. This seems logically sound but in reality this is just the easy way out when compared to a life behind bars. Another argument is

“Science can now effectively eliminate almost all uncertainty as to a person's guilt or innocence” (Messerli). The key word is “almost.” “Since 1973, 144 people on death row have been exonerated. As a percentage of all death sentences, that's just 1.6 percent. But if the innocence rate is 4.1 percent, more than twice the rate of exoneration, the study suggests what most people assumed but dreaded: An untold number of innocent people have been executed.” (Levy). That is just since 1973. Imagine how many live could have been saved if the death penalty had been abolished a very long time ago. The fact that there is even a chance an innocent person could be accused and be sentenced to death shows that there is no place for capital punishment. That would be the exact opposite what the criminal justice system was put in place for, instead of protecting the innocent it would be punishing the innocent.

Capital punishment violates articles 3 and 5 of the Declaration of Human Rights. Capital punishment is expensive and can be unintentionally given to the innocent. Justice is not better served through the penalty, it is sometimes the easy way out. With a system this flawed there is no way it should be allowed to be a reality. Over one hundred other countries have already figured this out.
