The Death Penalty

The end of the sniper attacks in Washington, DC poses an interesting question: what should we do with the killers? This decision will be settled in court, by an unbiased jury, who will make their decision based upon the facts and only the facts. Any prejudices they have will not play a role in their decision. In theory, this is how our nation's justice system functions.

We would all like to believe that our judicial system is perfect. America is a land of opportunity and equality, and our courts should reflect that. Unfortunately, courts vary by state, and people are not perfect. Depending on where a trial occurs, the defendant faces different legal statutes and punishments. The primary problem with the death penalty is that it is not applied universally and fairly. This problem is caused by both the system itself, and the people who compose the system.

Until our court system is perfect, and there is zero risk of the execution of an innocent person, we cannot continue to administer the death penalty. Instead, lifetime imprisonment with no chance of parole gives the opportunity for the presentation of new evidence and allows for DNA testing. State and Federal governments must take the steps necessary to enact a moratorium on the death penalty and commute all death sentences to life imprisonment with no chance of parole.

The lawyers who prosecute and defend death penalty cases are not equal in ability. State-appointed defense attorneys are noble in their commitment to the Constitution, but not all of them rise to the occasion. There is not adequate regulation to ensure that all state-appointed defense attorneys are qualified.

Defendants who cannot afford their own attorney face the greatest bias from juries, as these defendants are most often minorities and belong to lower socioeconomic classes. The discrepancies in the quality of defense attorneys should not determine the outcome of a capital trial.

The variation in death penalty statues is unfair. Capital punishment should not vary based upon the state where a crime is committed. Equality in America should include equality of punishments for equal crimes.

Currently, the justice system defines crimes as state or federal. The federal government sets the statutes for federal crimes. State governments set the statutes for state crimes. This separation is archaic and unnecessary. The federal government should at least set minimum standards for the prosecution and punishment of capital crimes. The federal government can also federalize more crimes, in order to exert a universal application of the death penalty. Every American should face the same legal standards regardless of what state he or she lives in.

People are not perfect. We live in a society that is becoming less biased, but we are not yet close to forming opinions of people regardless of their ethnicity, religion, or social class. We cannot expect to have a judicial system that looks beyond ethnicity, social class, and religion when the people who compose the system are biased.

We will never know how many innocent minority defendants receive guilty verdicts based solely upon the color of their skin. Our judicial system does not do enough to account for racism and bias based on socioeconomic class in the judicial process. Until the government and society effectively remove bias from the judicial process, we must refrain from capital punishment. Our nation cannot allow the hijacking of our justice system by racist individuals.

There are criminals who deserve the death penalty. Convicts who willfully kill law enforcement officers, children, or random people at shopping malls do not deserve to live. However, the risk of errors in our current system guarantees that some innocent people receive capital punishment. When the government wrongfully executes an innocent person, then our justice system is unjust. We most stop running the risk of killing innocent people. When the punishment is death, the stakes are too high for mistakes.