There’s been a lot of controversy regarding the recent death of Troy Davis. He was convicted of killing a cop in Georgia 20 years ago, and his death penalty sentence was just carried out despite protests from a myriad of people.
Although the majority of inmates on death row are most likely guilty, that doesn’t mean we need to kill them. There are arguments about Davis possibly being innocent. How terrible would it be if we found out he didn’t even do the crime after we had already killed him?
There’s always the possibility of finding new evidence. People, even trained and experienced detectives and crime scene investigators, make mistakes. It isn’t unheard of for the imprisoned to be found innocent decades after being convicted and sentenced.
It’s almost less of a punishment to put them to death anyway. If we keep them locked up for their actions it forces them to think about what they’ve done for the rest of their lives. They have no freedom and not much to keep them occupied, therefore they can’t help but feel bad—if not for the victim then for doing something to get themselves in there.
We always hope they end up being rehabilitated and feel genuine remorse and therefore want to change, but even if this doesn’t happen they’re still thinking about how their lives could have been different had they not committed the crime. They have too much time on their hands not to.
Taking an inmate’s life makes us just as bad as them. Although they’re not the best human beings, they’re still human beings. They’ve done things to warrant losing their freedom and being kept apart from society, but not losing their lives. It’s a slippery slope judging who deserves to die and who doesn’t, so we shouldn’t be the ones to do it.
Capital punishment is like playing God. We have no right to end someone’s life before nature, God or whomever you believe in is ready to take them. Only a higher power can make that decision.
I agree we need to separate some members of society due to the danger they pose to the rest of the population, but we don’t have to kill them off. By trying to obtain justice, we’re causing injustice.
