23nd Annual Bill of Rights
Art and Essay Contest, 2006-2007

TOPIC: Should we stop the death penalty?

1st Prize, Middle School
Awarded to a 12th-grade Pacific Grove Middle School student

How Are We Better?

"Barbarians. That's what we have become. We kill each other instead of mourning the tragedy, we want the state to satisfy our bloodlust by killing the offender..." This quote by an anonymous author describes the vengeful mentality that is promoted by the death penalty laws. Although the intention of capital punishment is to limit crimes and to punish murderers, we become murderers ourselves by resorting to such extreme measures. The tragedy of losing a loved one can compel an individual to lust for revenge--an eye for an eye. However, by lowering ourselves to the same level we compromise our own humanity. Capital punishment only doubles the tragedy. More lives are ruined; there is no chance for redemption or rehabilitation or corrections if mistakes of guilt have been made. The death penalty simply is unfair on several levels.

One may think the law is unbiased and fair to all individuals but, unfortunately, this is not so in many death penalty cases. Since 1988, only 26.47% of 374 defendants have been white, 17.11% have been Hispanic, 4.28% have been Asian/Indian/Pacific Islander/Native American, and 0.08% have been Arab. An alarming 51.60%, however, have been African American. Despite trying to keep trials color-blind, it has been shown that African Americans are more likely to receive the death penalty than are other races for committing similar crimes.

Capital punishment also ties up our court system for years. Prisoners who receive the death penalty are on death row oftentimes for decades as they continue to appeal their convictions. It is an extremely costly, lengthy process for the government and taxpayers to kill someone.

Then there is the issue of mistakes being made. Certain individuals have languished for years on death row only to be found innocent years later when new evidence came to light or DNA test results have exonerated them. Since 1976, 77 people have been release from death row because they were proven not guilty of the crimes for which they had been convicted. People are not infallible; we make mistakes. Even with our new technology today, machines can still make mistakes. We shouldn't risk executing even one innocent person.

Are all convicts on death row innocent? Of course not. Do many of them deserve severe punishment? Yes, quite possibly. It would seem the worse punishment to dying quickly, however, would be to have your freedom taken away for the rest of your life, to be separated from your loved ones, and to live behind bars while reflecting on the crimes you committed. There have been individuals who have used that time to completely turn themselves around during their incarceration. They were able to take a hard look at themselves and use that knowledge to reform themselves. The sincere regret they feel for their crimes becomes a catalyst for them to become a better human being. Prisoners have furthered their education, mentored troubled youth who might be on a similar path, and even written children's books.

"...we must learn to deal with these people in our midst--punish them but do not become them." Capital punishment is not our only, or even the best form of punishment. Sentencing someone to life is a better alternative. It gives us the chance to discover and correct mistakes that might have been made in those convictions. It gives the prisoner time to reflect on this crimes and, possible, redeem himself. And most importantly, it protects the value of life and our humanity. By killing murderers for their crimes, we lower ourselves and become murderers ourselves. Our government should not be in the business of killing its citizens, but should instead protect and serve those citizens. Americans see themselves as a compassionate, fair, democratic people. Capital punishment undermines all those qualities and sends a chilling message to the rest of the world. We need to abolish the death penalty and recognize that is a primitive, unfair, vengeful practice that has no place in a civilized world.