Capital Punishment: Justice for None

Capital punishment has faced many debates about whether or not it is ethical and justifiable and it is still widely disputed. It is a sensitive and controversial topic that sparks anger and thoughts of revenge to some. Without a doubt, executions are considered to be the most severe punishment for a crime and there is no coming back from death. Capital punishment is the death penalty given to those who committed crimes, such as homicide, rape, etc (Legal Explanations). Capital punishment should not be reinstated in Canada. The reason as to why it should not be reinstated is because the death penalty is racially biased, does not deter crime, costs more for taxpayers, many have been wrongfully convicted, and financially biased. According to a poll done in June of 2000 by the government, 44% agreed with capital punishment while 43% disagreed with it (CBC news).

The death penalty is not applied fairly and is applied in a racial based manner. Statistics have shown that racial bias extends not only to the race of the defendant but to the race of the victim. Of the over 18,000 executions that have taken place in U.S. history, only 42 involved a white person being punished for killing a Black person (NoDeathPenalty). According to a new report by Amnesty International, race plays a strong role in death penalty cases (Amnesty, http://www.amnesty.org). In "US: Death by Discrimination – The Continuing Role of Race in Capital Cases," Amnesty states that: Even though blacks and whites are murder victims in nearly equal number of crimes, 80% of people executed since the death penalty was reinstated have been executed for murders involving white victims (Amnesty, Amnesty International).

Over the past decade, many studies have attempted to prove the correlation between death penalty and deterrent of crime. If anything, statistics points out that there are more murders where there is death penalty. States that have death penalty do not have a lower crime rate than those that have the law. The South, where 80% of all executions take place, has a higher murder rate then the North. Crime rates are consistently higher where there is death penalty than those without it. During the act of the crime, criminals do not think about getting caught or the consequences of their actions. Some criminals use the death penalty as a challenge. An example would be Ted Bundy. He chose Florida, the most active execution state at the time, to carry out his final killing spree. By keeping the death penalty, the government would be draining resources from programs that could help prevent crime.

There is always the possibility that an innocent person might be executed with the death penalty. In 2004, Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in Texas for starting the fire that killed his children. Forensics has shown that it was an accident and he was innocent (Staff). Over 130 people have been released from death rows due to evidence proving their innocence.

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