An Eye For An Eye And The World Goes Blind!!

Human rights are standards that recognize and protect the dignity of all human beings. HOWEVER, the death penalty is humanly wrong. The death penalty is VERY controversial. For those who don't know, the death penalty is a legal punishment in which the state kills someone due to a crime. The United States has executed more than 1,400 people since 1976 and currently executes over 3 people per week. Is this considered justice? Many countries have abolished Capital Punishment, however, more than 50 nations allow for execution. 

In a New York Times article, it states "continuing to put people to death should at least make the administration of the punishment as fair and humane as possible" There are different forms of execution which include those listed below. Yes, states still authorize all these methods of execution even though lethal injection is the most widely used method.

The death penalty fails to provide equal protection under the law. Many people are executed who are innocent of their crimes. These methods of execution are degrading for prisoners and can definitely take a mental toll on those who have families. The U.S death penalty system violates human rights law. These methods of execution and death row conditions have been condemned as cruel, inhumane degrading and some even say it is torture. This shows how the United States violates people's rights as humans!!

The United States is one of only a few countries that practice this sort of punishment. It has also been responsible for nearly half of all executions carried out worldwide since 2009.

Now let's get into Minorities and the death penalty. The death penalty has been found to violate the nondiscrimination requirements found in human rights law. In 2006, the UN human rights committee recommended that the U.S Assess the extent to which the death penalty is disproportionately imposed on ethnic and low-income population groups. They found this to be true. 

Some of the arguments that were brought up in the articles that I read were

Error in a capital case is inevitable. DNA evidence has demonstrated the innocence of at least 17- death row inmates since 1993.

It is discriminatory, It falls on poor people and people of color. Although blacks and Latinos make up about 35 percent of the U.S population. There is currently more than 55 percent on death row. In an article written by Aahil Rajpari he researches that As of October of 2002, 12 people have been executed where the defendants were white and the murder victim black, compared with 178 black defendants executed for murders with white victims. The death penalty has a system of racial bias in the application of the death penalty that exists at both state and federal levels. 

When is it justified to kill? Is it ever Jusstifable and is there hate involved. Lastly, these are the people who were executed by innocent.

• Ruben Cantu (Texas, convicted 1985, executed 1993)

• Larry Griffin (Missouri, convicted 1981, executed 1995)

• Joseph O’Dell (Virginia, convicted 1986, executed 1997)

• David Spence (Texas, convicted 1984, executed 1997)

• Leo Jones (Florida, convicted 1981, executed 1998)

• Gary Graham (Texas, convicted 1981, executed 2000)

• Claude Jones (Texas, convicted 1989, executed 2000)

• Cameron Todd Willingham (Texas, convicted 1992, executed 2004)

• Sedley Alley (Tennessee, convicted 1987, executed 2006)

• Troy Davis (Georiga, convicted 1991, executed 2011)

• Lester Bower (Texas, convicted 1984, executed 2015)

• Brian Terrell (Georgia, convicted 1995, executed 2015)

• Richard Masterson (Texas, convicted 2002, executed 2016)

• Robert Pruett (Texas, convicted 2002, executed 2017)

• Carlton Michael Gary (Georgia, convicted 1986, executed 2018)

• Dominique Ray (Alabama, convicted 1999; executed 2019)

• Larry Swearingen (Texas, convicted 2000, executed 2019)

• Walter Barton (Missouri, convicted 1993, executed 2020)

• Nathaniel Woods (Alabama, convicted 2005, executed 2020)

  These are the names of the people who were wrongly executed while being innocent. There are many more who were executed for their crimes which is the wrong way to punish someone. Punishment shouldn't come in the form of death.

  

  These are all the countries that retain the death penalty.

  Overall "Abolishing the death penalty in the United States can allow other countries to ensure the right to life for all people, while also ensuring that the absolute worst of punishments cannot be enforced differently based on a person’s status, color, race, or underlying distinctions."

  
  

  https://sites.uab.edu/humanrights/2021/03/25/the-death-penalty-is-inhumane/

  https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/death-penalty-states

  https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions/methods-of-execution

  https://ccrjustice.org/files/CCR%20Death%20Penalty%20Factsheet.pdf