Scribbles of An Ape

Lately there has been thought about extracting the death penalty from the criminal justice system. It has been thought that most Americans are for the death penalty. After reading this article though it presents the idea that maybe Americans aren't so pro death penalty at all. The biggest issue that is brought up about the death penalty is how to determine whether the person is guilty or not. If you aren't sure if the person is guilty then you shouldn't be sentencing the person to death. Unfortunately many people have been sentenced to death without actually being guilty. This reason in itself is why the death penalty should no longer be apart of the criminal justice system. Take for instance the situation that was already brought up in the article. The article reads, “Most notable this year were the multiple protests on behalf of Troy Davis, who was executed in Georgia despite appeals that raised questions about his guilt”. The fact that the government wouldn’t further investigate an issue before sentencing someone to the death penalty is absurd. This is why if the death penalty didn’t exist then there would be no way to just kill someone who could have been free. It isn’t fair that innocent people are being sentenced death. This causes anger and disappointment in a family and especially hatred toward the criminal justice system. Also when choosing the death penalty for a person you must consider whether a human even has a right to take away another human’s life. Consider the line “Ultimately, the moral question surrounding capital punishment in America has less to do with whether those convicted of violent crime deserve to die than with whether state and federal governments deserve to kill those whom it has imprisoned”.(Procon.org) Most people aren’t very fond of taking another human’s life away. Many religions forbid taking away human life so the death penalty can just be seen as morally wrong. The death penalty is a touchy and stressful subject to speak about and to sentence so it should just be removed from the criminal system.