The death penalty debates have led to the abolition of capital punishment in numerous countries all over the world. The most important arguments against capital punishment include the inappropriateness of violation of the right to live, the possibility of executing innocent people, and the high cost of procedures required for this type of penalties.
Death penalty causes a severe violation of human rights. The society needs to follow the essential ethical standards when treating people, even those committing serious crimes (“Arguments against Capital Punishment” par. 4). Sentencing a person to death puts a serious threat to general ethics of people as such act demonstrates the absence of respect to the most precious value in this world – the human life.
Besides, the possibility of executing an innocent person reveals the maleficent nature of capital punishment (Moens and Thompson 30). An average of five exonerations of executed people in the United States demonstrates the low possibility of avoiding mistakes in giving death penalties (“Innocence and the Death Penalty” par. 3).
Though many adherents of capital punishment claim that DNA analysis gives unquestionable evidence, forensic scientists consider this type of evidence prone to uncertainties at all stages of its production (Aronson and Cole 603).
Death penalty requires much more expenses than any other type of punishment does (“The High Cost of the Death Penalty” par. 1). A long and complex judicial process for capital cases requires extensive spending. Therefore, a substitution of death penalties for sentences of life without Parole could help the government save much money and spend it on improving the communities we live in.
The death penalty should be substituted for adequate alternative punishment (Mandery 118). No moral, ethical, or logic standards can justify capital punishment as it violates basic human rights and cause serious negative consequences for the society.
Works Cited
Arguments against Capital Punishment. n.d.
Aronson, Jay, and Simon Cole. “Science and the Death Penalty: DNA, Innocence, and the Debate over Capital Punishment in the United States.” Law & Social Inquiry 34.3 (2009): 603-633. Print.
Innocence and the Death Penalty. n.d.
Mandery, Evan. Capital Punishment in America: A Balanced Examination. 2nd ed. 2012. Sudbury, Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Print.
Moens, Gabriel, and Keith Thompson. “Constitutional, Philosophical and Historical Perspectives of the Capital Punishment Debate in Australia and the United States.” Acta Universitatis George Bacovia 2 (2012): 27-38. Print.
The High Cost of the Death Penalty. n.d.