Abolishing America’s Death Penalty System
The death penalty threatens the very values upheld by our American society today, most notably the ideas of equality, practicality, and justice. The death penalty must be abolished as it is very costly with no real benefit to public safety, disproportionately affects minorities, and is regularly given to innocent inmates.
Capital punishment has been in America since the very first colonies in 1608. According to the Espy File, 15,269 executions have taken place since then. Authorized methods of execution include lethal injection, electrocution, lethal gas, hanging, and firing squad. Lethal injection is the most commonly used as some of the other methods are declared unconstitutional by multiple state courts. Death row conditions and these methods have been deemed as “…cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment and even torture” (Human Rights and the Death Penalty). The lives of thousands of more people are at stake as the death penalty remains legal.
Verneal Jimerson is one of the many innocent lives unfairly disrupted by capital punishment. He spent 11 years on death row in Illinois under charges of murder and rape as one of the “Ford Heights Four”. The Ford Heights Four is a group of 4 African American men who were accused of raping Carol Schmal, and murdering her and her fiancé Lawrence Lionberg in 1978. Jimerson and Dennis Williams, one of the other three men in the group, were given the death penalty after a witness named Paula Gray placed them at the scene. It was later determined that Gray had lied about seeing those men. DNA evidence also cleared Jimerson from the crime. In 1996, Jimerson was finally released from death row. He and the other men got a $36 million settlement for their horribly unjust convictions. However, the thoughts of prison still haunt Jimerson to this day. Sounds of yelling prisoners and clanking of the metal prison doors echo in his mind. In an interview done with the Chicago Tribune, Jimerson said “You think that you’re free, but in my mind I’m not. I’m still trying to adjust. … It’s harder than you think”. A sense of comfort and peace was unforgivably stripped away from Jimerson in 1978. Now, his life will never be the same again.
The death penalty is very expensive but provides no greater benefit to public safety in comparison to life imprisonment. Due to the severity of the situation, more personnel are involved for forensic evidence and background history of the defendant and jury selection is much more rigorous in order to ensure an unbiased jury. Capital cases can also last over four times longer than regular cases, requiring more compensation for jurors and attorneys. Death row inmates are put under more supervision and are subjected to other accommodations. Additionally, Every prisoner has the right to appeal their sentence which can get more costly as an inmate tries to avoid the death penalty. Ultimately, the costs of all of these circumstances significantly surpass the costs of life imprisonment without parole. In terms of public safety, there is no added benefit that comes with the death penalty. Therefore, it would be much more practical to abolish this system.
Studies show that racial disparities exist at every level of the capital case procedure. According to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), black people make up 42% of the death row. The NAACP also found that 37 of the current 63 people on federal death row are people of color- 27 of which are black. The race of the victims also plays a major role in how our justice system makes decisions. A study done by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) found that “as of October 2002, 12 people have been executed where the defendant was white and the murder victim black, compared with 178 black defendants executed for murders with white victims”. These statistics are frightening as they reflect the systemic racism deeply rooted in our modern society. In order to uphold our values of equality and justice in our community, the death penalty must be abolished.
Innocent defendants are regularly at risk of being executed. Because the act of capital punishment is irreversible, continuing this poses a very big risk. The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) reports that 172 people who had been wrongfully convicted and given the death penalty have been exonerated since 1973 in the United States. Moreover, It’s estimated by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that 4.1%- or 120 of the current 3,000- of U.S. death row prisoners are wrongfully convicted. This is an alarmingly high rate of innocent people that will face an unfair fate. Flaws in the justice system are inevitable, but abolishing the death penalty will ensure that no one has to face a permanent punishment.
Many argue that the threat of the death penalty deters horrific crimes from being committed. However, a punishment can only be a successful deterrent if it is consistently used, and the death penalty isn’t common and is illegal in many states (The Case Against the Death Penalty). Additionally, Death penalty states don’t necessarily have lower homicide rates than non-death penalty states. In an investigation by the New York Times, it was discovered that the majority of the states without the death penalty have homicide rates below the national average. In contrast, half of the states with the death penalty have homicide rates higher than the national average. It was also reported that “During the last 20 years, the homicide rate in death penalty states has been 48%-101% higher than in states without the death penalty” (Murder Rate of Death Penalty States). These statistics prove that the death penalty is not an effective deterrent of crime, further proving that the benefits of abolishing the death penalty outweigh those if it remained legal.
When considering the issue of the death penalty, it is clear that it must be abolished as it is very expensive with no extra public safety factor, disproportionately affects minority communities, and is frequently given to innocent defendants. The abolishment of capital punishment will save hundreds of thousands of innocent lives over time and would significantly help root out systemic racism in our nation’s institutions. Costs that would have been used for these cases can be redirected to fund public safety initiatives or provide compensation to a victim’s family. The American way is choosing right over wrong, good over evil. We must follow the American way and abolish the death penalty.
Go to this link to sign the petition to abolish the death penalty in the United States:
Works Cited
April 11, 2014. “Photos: The ‘Ford Heights Four’.” Photos: The ‘Ford Heights Four’ — Chicago Tribune, galleries.apps.chicagotribune.com/chi-photos-the-ford-heights-four-20140411/.
“The Case Against the Death Penalty.” American Civil Liberties Union, www.aclu.org/other/case-against-death-penalty.
“Executed But Possibly Innocent.” Death Penalty Information Center, deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/innocence/executed-but-possibly-innocent.
“Executions in the U.S. 1608–2002: The Espy File.” Death Penalty Information Center, deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions/executions-overview/executions-in-the
-u-s-1608–2002-the-espy-file.
Gross, Samuel R., et al. “Rate of False Conviction of Criminal Defendants Who Are Sentenced to Death.” PNAS, National Academy of Sciences, 20 May 2014, www.pnas.org/content/111/20/7230.
“Human Rights and the Death Penalty.” American Civil Liberties Union, www.aclu.org/issues/human-rights/human-rights-and-death-penalty.
Initiative, Prison Policy. “The Criminal Justice System Is Riddled with Racial Disparities.” Prison Policy Initiative, www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2016/08/15/cjrace/.
“Innocence.” Death Penalty Information Center, 23 Oct. 2020, deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/innocence.
“Likely Innocent But Died on Death Row.” Death Penalty Information Center, 2 Nov. 2020, deathpenaltyinfo.org/stories/likely-innocent-but-died-on-death-row.
Mills, Steve. “‘Ford Heights Four’ Exonerated, but Not Free from Past.” Chicagotribune.com, 9 Sept. 2018, www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-
2014–04–11-ct-ford-heights-four-met-20140411-story.html.
“Murder Rate of Death Penalty States Compared to Non-Death Penalty States.” Death Penalty Information Center, deathpenaltyinfo.org/facts-and-research/murder-rates/
murder-rate-of-death-penalty-states-compared-to-non-death-penalty-states.
“NAACP Death Penalty Fact Sheet.” NAACP, 6 Feb. 2018, www.naacp.org/latest/naacp-death-penalty-fact-sheet/.
“Race and the Death Penalty.” American Civil Liberties Union, www.aclu.org/other/race-and-death-penalty.
“Wrongful Executions.” Wrongful Executions | National Coalition To, www.ncadp.org/pages/wrongful-executions.
