BHM: On Abolishing the Death Penalty
CONTENT WARNINGS: mentions of sexual assault
The death penalty, or capital punishment, refers to punishment by death imparted to a person by a state or legal framework. Due to the nature of such a punishment, the death penalty raises a plethora of concerns, considering its inhumane, torturous and degrading conditions. It leaves no room for personal growth and in no way deters crime.
On April 29, 2014, Clayton Lockett, an African American man from Oklahoma walked into the execution room, took a seat and was strapped down to the execution chair. He was given a lethal injection, and at the point where he should have gone unconscious, he instead experienced a heart attack. Struggling against the restraints, he said, “something’s wrong.” Technically speaking, Clayton didn’t even die from lethal injection. His autopsy states he died from his heart attack, so what was the point? Lethal injection is supposed to make victims go unconscious almost instantly, but instead, Clayton suffered a painful seizure while guards watched. This act of human error was torturous and exemplifies why the death penalty should be abolished.
People of color have accounted for a disproportionate 43% of total executions since 1976,55% of which include those still awaiting execution—while they only account for approximately 27% of the general population. The death penalty has been found to violate the non-discrimination requirement established in the ICERD. People who advocate for the death penalty commonly argue that they believe it will deter crime. However, the highly credible General Assembly of United Nations recently stated that “there's no conclusive evidence of the deterrent value of the the death penalty.” In other words, the effectiveness of the death penalty in preventing future crimes is extremely questionable. That leads to the question, why capital punishment when life imprisonment can also cause pain, yet leave room for possible reform and retribution?
According to the DPIC, more than 70% of the world’s countries have abolished capital punishment. The U.S. is an outlier among its close allies in its continued use of the death penalty. In 2018, the United States executed 25 people and over 2,700 prisoners remain on “death row.” It is one of only 56 nations in the world that still practice capital punishment. Just this year, Rodney Reed, a Texas inmate was issued a stay of execution on his case. In 1996, Reed was found guilty of the abduction, rape, and murder of 19-year-old Stacey Stites in Bastrop, Texas. He had always maintained his innocence. According to his lawyer, Bryce Benjet, who has been working on Reed’s case for 18 years, there’s evidence and witness statements that clear Reed. The State’s call for capital punishment is predicated upon past allegations against Reed,. He was only charged in one of those cases, however, and was later acquitted. In the many years that have passed since Rodney’s sentencing, many key pieces of evidence have come into the picture that can exonerate Rodney from the crime he is accused of.
The death penalty is an expensive system, estimated to cost roughly 137 million dollars per year. This expense diverts resources from truly effective and genuine crime control measures. Spending money on capital punishment reduces the resources available for crime prevention, mental health treatment, education and rehabilitation, meaningful victims’ services, and drug treatment programs. Emergency services, creating jobs, and crime prevention were the three highest rated priorities for use of fiscal resources. Schools/libraries, public health, and roads/transportation also ranked higher than the death penalty.
The death penalty is unjust and morally wrong. When someone murders someone else, the correct punishment is not to murder him or her, but to try and help them. “All executions violate the right to life. Those carried out publicly are a gross affront to human dignity which cannot be tolerated,” says Hassiba Hadj Sahraoi, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa. We don’t steal from thieves or rape rapists. It would only appear to condone the crime by repeating it. Why do we murder the murderers? The death penalty takes focus away from the victims and focuses the attention on the criminal. “All executions violate the right to life. Those carried out publicly are a gross affront to human dignity which cannot be tolerated.”
by TAYLOR BROWN