Death Penalty Essay

How would you feel if you were claimed guilty for a crime you did not do? This is a situation that many people undergo in their respective judicial system. The death penalty is a legal procedure where a person is killed by the government as a punishment for a serious crime they committed. Currently, there are 32 states that practice death penalty and 18 states that have abolished it. In 1846, Michigan became the first US state to eradicate the death penalty for all crimes except for treason. In 1852, Rhode Island became the first US state to abolish the death penalty for all crimes including treason. Even though the death row may contain many malicious murderers, there is a large probability that there are innocent victims among them. Many nations see the death penalty as a violation of human rights and believe that it should be eradicated. The number of executions is decreasing and the public is beginning to fight against this criminal justice process. Although the death penalty has resulted in the death of many criminals, capital punishment must be eradicated because many innocent people are murdered, it is used in a racist manner, and many millions of dollars are spent on this practice.
The death row not only consists of murderers, but it could also include a large number of innocent people whose lives are at risk. In the past 35 years, over 130 people have been taken out of the death row because of new evidence proving their innocence. This shows that the death penalty process is very faulty and contains many errors when it comes to convicting a person of a crime. There was an average of three exonerations per year from 1973 to 1999 which soon rose to an average of five per year between 2000 and 2007 ( Cary, Mary Kate). The ...

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... of exonerations from the death penalty has increased over the years, it can be seen that this process convicts innocents due to misidentification by eyewitnesses or incorrect results from several forensic tests. Many of those in the death penalty happen to be either black or those who cannot afford a proper lawyer. The criminal justice system acting in a biased manner shows that these black and poor people could be some of the innocents standing in the death row. In order to better the death penalty, the process is time-consuming and consists of many key leaders to eliminate errors. Because the process is very complicated and long, the death penalty costs a huge amount of money and all that money comes from taxpayers. If the death penalty is abolished from US, the public can use all that extra money to improve crime prevention methods to help keep the society safe.