The Death Penalty Is Archaic and Immoral

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The death penalty is simply a modernized version of the Holy Bible’s “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot”. Some argue that death is a necessary retribution for murderous cases - but is it effective morally? Revenge only glorifies violence, which is most definitely not the message the world strives to display. The death penalty is a negative form of punishment and insinuates a harsh reflection of society economically, politically, and socially. More than two thirds of the world’s countries formally oppose the death penalty, yet only fifteen out of the fifty United States also object against the decree. What does this say about America? The United States represents freedom yet braces an extremely unjust law that sharply curtails the lives of innocent people. From 1972 to 1976 the death penalty was deemed “cruel and unusual punishment” under the eighth Amendment. Though technology has allowed for a less painful death, what makes the action of killing someone today any different from killing someone in 1972? We simply do not have the ...

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