The Death Penalty ­ Not Just a Moral Issue

"The question with which we must deal is not whether a substantial proportion of American citizens would today, if polled, opine that capital punishment is barbarously cruel, but whether they would find it to be so in light of all information presently available."


-Justice Thurgood Marshall  




In general, death is something none of us want, in fact it is something we don't even like to think about.   When death takes place naturally, it is a process beyond our control to stop, but where death is willfully and deliberately brought about, it is very unfortunate.   Of course, within our legal systems there are said to be certain reasons and purposes for employing the death penalty.   It is used to punish offenders, to prevent them ever repeating their misdeed and to deter others.   However, if we examine the situation more carefully, we will find that these are not the real solutions.   There are many arguments for and against capital punishment, and some even from the same religious references.   Either way, it is a moral issue that has been plaguing many societies as early as recorded history, and has been questioned in recent history and in contemporary society.   With the advent of DNA identification, more elaborate legal cases, and mass communication: more and more convicted felons have been freed from death row.   Studies comparing states with and without capital punishment now proves the ineffectiveness of such a threat.   As long as humans make mistakes, and as long as the judicial system is fraught with errors, there is no way of knowing how many death row prisoners received a fair trial, let alone know how many innocent people are on death row or have already been judicially murdered.


Today, in many societies very little importance is placed on education or the development of human values through social programs and entertainment. In fact, if we take television programming as an example, violence, including killing, is regarded as having...