As a kid, I loved learning about the Salem Witch Trials. If you aren’t familiar: the Salem Witch Trials took place from 1692-1693, in which the government of Salem, Mass., accused mainly women in the community of witchery and executed them. Now, this all seems quite foolish in 2023 because obviously witches don’t exist. And to me it seems scary that the government had the power to kill 19 individuals over a false claim.
Today, in America, a somewhat similar thing is happening. It is known as capital punishment or the death penalty. Someone is put on death row after a judge or jury finds them guilty of a serious felony, such as murder or rape. Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming allow the death penalty. As of 2023, one can be executed by lethal injection, firing squad, gas inhalation, or electrocution. They are executed per government orders.
In a way, the Salem Witch Trials and the death penalty are similar. They both give the government the power to kill its citizens, and both are not foolproof. The bottom line is that capital punishment is inhumane, immoral, irreversible, and flawed. It needs to be banned throughout America.
When I was younger and got into a fight with my siblings, I was always told to be the “bigger one.” This meant that if they hit me, then I shouldn’t hit them back, and instead let them get punished, which would probably be worse than a quick slap. And if I had a chance to speak to any judge who ever put anyone on death row, I would tell them to be the bigger one.
Murdering another human is the worst thing a human could do. It is disgusting, cruel, and inhumane. This is why it is strictly prohibited. So why should the government have the power to ignore that law and murder someone? Don’t get me wrong; murders deserve punishment. But is it more of a punishment to rot in prison your whole life, or die and be relieved of any other punishment. “The death penalty, I think, is a terrible scar on American justice, especially the concept of equal justice under law, but also of due process,” Burke Marshall, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division said. “And it goes state by state, and it’s different in different states.”
In addition to the death penalty’s other faults, there is no way to ensure that a trial is 100% fair and that the accused is 100% guilty. There is no physical way to ensure that the accused is guilty. Even if they confess, they could have been coerced or protecting another person. So why not keep them in jail in case they call for a retrial, or new evidence comes out? If you kill them, you deny them of not only life, but also liberty. A total of 195 people have been exonerated from death row, meaning they were found not guilty and so they were taken off death row. This simply shows the fault that exists in the judicial process in America. And while it is good that these people were found innocent before their scheduled execution, not all are as lucky. Twenty people who have been executed have strong evidence that they were innocent. It’s too late to bring them back; you can’t reverse it. It is so foolish to remove a possible innocent person from this earth. They can’t get justice now and I think It shows the true injustice in the justice system.
Furthermore, minorities are disproportionately affected by punishments like the death penalty. The death penalty is EXTREMELY racially motivated. Death Penalty Information Center stated that 89% of rape exucutions are black defendants who are accussed of raping a white woman. The black population in America is 13%. So it would make sense if that number is 13% or around that. It’s 76% higher. I believe that rape is absolutely terrbile and disgusting, and as a woman in America, I know more people who have been sexually assaulted than comfortable. Rapists deserve serious punishment; however, I believe that 1) it is not necessary to kill a person, and 2) the death penalty is doled out with clear racial bias. To add on to this, 41% of the death row population is black. Again, only 13% of America’s population is black, so this statistic should represent this. And again, it does not. It is truly unjust to sentence individuals to death based on race. This again shows the injustice in America’s “justice” system.
We can’t bring back the dead. But what we can do is stop this punishment before more are executed. The Salem Witch Trials had an end, so the death penalty must too. We need to show America how unjust and immoral this killing truly is. Execution rates have started slowing down, and many states, including Connecticut, have banned the death penalty. Yet, 27 states still allow it; more than half of the states permit this killing. We need to elect congressmen and leaders who support the ban of the death penalty, and America needs to come together to abolish it as soon as possible. I challenge you to ask yourself your thoughts on the death penalty before you cast your next vote. It matters, and if enough people vote, the death penalty can get banned for good.
