The Death Penalty

7 Pages 1863 Words

xpected that the "adoption of narrowly crafted sentencing procedures would protect against innocent persons being sentenced to death". But the chances that innocent persons have been or will be executed remain astoundingly high (Bedua 344). The United States justice system was formed on the premise that it should protect society's general well being from any harm. Processes and procedures have been formed and created in order to ensure that everyone receives fair treatment, but the system has flaws that have let criminals back out on the streets and put innocent people in jail and on death row. How can the nation's people put trust into an institution that has reportedly failed them again and again? The system can and will, and has in the past, falsely accused someone and wrongfully sentenced him or her to terminal punishment. Once a convicted prisoner meets the executioner, the prisoner has reached the point of no return. Death cannot be reversed once it has occurred.
No issue posed by capital punishment is more disturbing to the public than the prospect that the government might execute innocent people. Proponents to the death penalty are, of course, also against executing an innocent person (Hook and Kahn 91). Most everyone would agree that killing someone is wrong. Proponents and opponents agree that murder is a heinous act and should be punished. Despite their hatred for those who kill, proponents support the killing of murderers as a just punishment for their deviant behavio...