Capital Punishment

3 Pages 848 Words

Capital Punishment
“The 99th reason to get rid of the death penalty
was recently released and walked off Florida’s
death row on January 3.”
(www.nodeathpenalty.org)
Juan Roberto Melendez spent nearly 18 years on death row for a crime that he did not commit. This year, he joined the nearly 100 death row prisoners nationwide who have been found innocent and released. Mr. Melendez was exonerated, thanks to a chance discovery of a crucial piece of evidence, found by a lawyer who was cleaning out his office. An accidental discovery that helped Mr. Melendez become the 22nd death row prisoner released in Florida. An accidental discovery without which an innocent man may have been added to the 66 prisoners who have been executed in the USA in 2001, bringing the total number executed since the use of the death penalty was resumed in 1977 to 749 prisoners. (www.nodeathpenalty.org)
With 3,700 prisoners currently on death row, what are the chances that there are still men among them who are innocent and will never be so lucky as to have a discovery of evidence found that would change their fates. What kind of precision and accuracy is required in a decision that determines whether or not there is enough of substantial evidence to prove that one deserves to be sentenced to death? How can we be absolutely positive that that single person is completely responsible and should pay with his life for a crime? We cannot be positive, because human judgment and the human justice system are fallible. So, why use the death penalty if we can never really be certain of one’s responsibility for a crime? (Schwarzchild, 588)
The United States government joins a minority group of countries and territories that still use the death penalty. While the rest of the world has already decided that human life is far too precious to be taken lightly, the...