Death Penalty

Answering this question is quite tricky. It reminds me of a paper I wrote for my Comp 1 class considering the voting rights for felons, in which case I remained adamant that felons do not deserve the right to vote. My reasoning was that felons did not show regard for the rights of the person or establishment they violated, therefore their rights could be appropriately disregarded.

Life, however, is entirely different.

Many points of views on the death penalty come from an economic perspective. I've heard the "I don't want MY tax dollars to give the felon free housing and meals!" Others point out that the cost of putting a person to death is much more than keeping him or her alive. Evidence on that is shaky.

I have a hard time putting a price on human life.

Coming at this question from an ethical point of view causes one ponder not questions of money, but questions of value.

Does a person surrender his or her humanity by committing a capital offense? Well, some would say one who commits a crime worthy of death had no humanity in the first place. Plus, taking a criminal's life would be "good" for society.

What about all the people who didn't commit the crime they were charged with? True, yes. Heart-wrenching, yes. Our judicial system would rather let a guilty man go free than to accidentally charge one innocent man. Nevertheless, this happens. Nobody wants to kill a person who does not "deserve" it. Except, maybe, a murderer.

And, finally:

Does a person "choose" his or her punishment by choosing to commit a crime in the first place? This is the question that makes the choice easy for me. A person, in fact, DOES choose their punishment, in my opinion. That is why it is easy for a person who has served 10 years of their "life without parole" sentence to go and attack a guard, in hopes of getting the death penalty and not having to live 30 more years in prison.

Because the death penalty could become an "easy way out" for people serving life sentences, I am against the death penalty. In my eyes, the death penalty is a "get out of jail free" card.

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This blog post is an official entry for the Law Blogger’s Scholarship, sponsored by The Law Office of Joshua Pond, http://www.joshuapondlaw.com.