Death Penalty Information Centre, Essay Example

Capital punishment is a state-permitted action of ending a criminal’s life as a form of punishment for their wrongdoing. This form of punishment is legal in 28 states, the military and federal agencies in the United States and was popular in the early years of its inception. However, with time, the advancement of human rights and lobby groups, the form of punishment has reduced in popularity, with some states completely abolishing it. In contrast, others have imposed regulations to guide the practice (Steiker & Jordan, 147). The rationale behind this abolition is the skewed justice systems that may lead to innocent citizens’ execution. The US remains the only country in the West that still practices the action except for Singapore, Japan and Taiwan to the East.

In chapter 13, the section on capital punishment, the US identifies its self as exemplary and exceptional in its mode of administration of the sentence. By introducing death to the offender by lethal injection, they advocate for a painless death to the criminal that does not involve crude ways as in the old times, which included hanging or beheading. This section considers the method humane, hurtles, and dignified. US laws do not prohibit the administration of this punishment. However, it shapes the circumstances under which the jury can agree upon it. This provision by the law regulates the use of the mode. Additionally, the victims can appeal for reconsideration for alternative forms of punishment. In the US, the practice is rampant in northern states more than southern states, and some analysts have associated this with the widespread slave trade in the north part of the country.

Like the laws and the constitution, I am in support of capital punishment for certain extreme crimes and involve other people’s lives, such as murder.  However, they can only be executed after a thorough investigation and the case conducted by qualified jury members and non-biased law enforcement personnel and witnesses. However, these conditions are not usually met with systems that are full of flaws due to racial, socioeconomic, and gender differences. Crimes such as murder on intent deserve nothing less than capital punishment.

Life is precious for everyone, and once someone dies, they cannot be brought back to life. The only form of punishment that can satisfy the slain person’s friends and family is equal punishment for the offender. In other cases, the existence of certain chronic offenders in society can be a cause of alarm and unrest among the community members. Provided the is enough evidence to place the person at various crime scenes, there is no need for the person to cause alarm in a neighbourhood. Execution, in this case, can be the best solution to rid the community of vices and offer a long-lasting source of peace and security.

The other justification for this form of punishment is that it can serve as a preventive measure in criminal acts. When younger people and other members of society know the repercussions of their actions, they will not engage in the acts. For this reason, capital punishment can serve as a strategy to curb the number of criminal cases as potential criminals make a cost-benefit analysis of their actions. A rational person would choose to avoid crime in fear of the consequences that can lead to the loss of life in death penalties.

In 2020, the state of Texas authorized the execution of Billy Joe Wardlow, who had been on death row for 25 years. With the help of a neuroscientist, he tried to convince the jury that at 18, he was too young to face capital punishment on the day of the ruling (Mccullough, pp. 1-2). Despite his lawyer’s plea to the US supreme court that Wardlow was still young when the crime and murder of 1993 happened, Wardlow was not released. Instead, the victim was placed under an IV drip containing a legal drug, pentobarbital, at 6:28 pm. His fiancé, close family, and friends were allowed to the premises and waited in an adjacent room in prison. A close associate of the murder victim was also present to witness the execution. This execution received widespread reactions from media and policymakers in Texas as they argued that Wardlow was young when he committed the crime, and his brain was still developing. Therefore, capital punishment would not suit his crime considering his age at the time. However, these requests were denied, and the state executed the sentence, which left Wardlow dead after 24 minutes.

In Texas, murder is a serious crime that can attract capital punishment. These murders can include the murder of an officer, a judicial member, an inmate in state prison, or murder of a person below the age of six. These murders will attract capital punishment in the state.  In the case of Wardlow, he was charged with robbery with murder. Wardlow, however, testifies that he had no intentions of killing the 82-year-old victim. The prosecution believed that he had intent and reason for murdering the old man.

In Wardlow’s case, the death punishment might have been too harsh considering the tender age that he was when he committed the crime. Younger people are more likely to get influenced and make unwise decisions compared to older people who have stable minds. However, Wardlow was not that young as he was eighteen then and could discern right from wrong and had a sound mind. The court ruling was fair enough to grant him a25 year death row that gives him a second chance in life. This does not usually happen as most people are traditionally executed once the court ruling is issued. Wardlow had the opportunity to experience life in prison after his heinous acts and even give an account of how remorseful and parole had played a significant role in the feeling. The victim’s family received relief from the punishment as they knew justice had been served, although it would not return their kin.

In 1989, Texas executed a man named Carlos Deluna for allegedly stabbing to death a clerk at a convenience store in 1983 (DPIC, 1). However, a Chicago tribune released some disturbing aspects of the case that proved that the executed victim was not the real criminal. This was a case of names mix up and facial similarities. The actual murderer, Carlos Hernandez, confessed to committing the crime after his record was found with similar charges. The jury in the case decided to execute the man using unreliable information that gave faulty outcomes.

The case was characterized by a false witness who wrongly identified the perpetrator, the police who arrested the wrong Carlos while they aware of the existence of Hernandez, who had a criminal record. Lastly, the two are said to look alike that Hernandez’s family failed to recognize his photo. Such cases depict the accuracy required in investigations before passing the capital punishment judgment to any lawbreaker. The jury and law enforcement agents should ensure thorough investigations to prevent the recurrence of such cases. Instead, they should ensure justice is served to all citizens, and criminals get the proportionate punishment for their crimes.

Works Cited

Death Penalty Information Centre. Executed but Possibly Innocent.  Death Penalty Information Centre (2021). https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/

Jolie Mccyllough. Texas executes Billy Wardlow, who was 18 when he killed a man. Experts argued that’s too young for a death sentence. The Texas Tribune. (July 8, 2020). https://www.texastribune.org/

Steiker, Carol S., and Jordan M. Steiker. “Capital punishment.” Reforming criminal justice: A report of the Academy for Justice on bridging the gap between scholarship and reform 4 (2017): 147-168.