Christine7 Reasons Why the Death Penalty should be Abolished
December 22nd 2007 08:44
1. It’s not a deterrent: In America over the past 20 years, those states with the death penalty have had a homicide rate 48 to 101% higher than those states without it (2003 FBI Uniform Crime Rates Data )
2. It’s racist: According to US Department of Justice figures, nearly 80 percent of inmates on federal death row are Black, Hispanic or from another minority group. Minorities account for 74 percent of the cases in which federal prosecutors seek the death penalty.
3. It doesn’t educate our young people that killing is wrong: Duh.
4. It’s irreversible: If the legal system charges the wrong person, than an innocent person dies. “Since 1973, more than 125 people have been released from death rows throughout the country due to evidence of their wrongful convictions. In 2003 alone, 10 innocent defendants were released from death row.” (Amnesty International USA)
5. It costs more to kill someone than giving them life imprisonment: A 2003 legislative audit in Kansas found that the estimated cost of a death penalty case was 70% more than the cost of a comparable non-death penalty case. Death penalty case costs were counted through to execution (median cost $1.26 million). Non-death penalty case costs were counted through to the end of incarceration (median cost $740,000).
6. It goes against international human rights laws and treaties: There are about 12 international treaties on human rights that the death penalty defies; the most famous being the International Declaration of Human Rights, signed December 10, 1948. The Declaration proclaims the right of every individual to protection from deprivation of life. It states that no one shall be subjected to cruel or degrading punishment.
7. It doesn’t take into account mental illness: Seven states in the US and the federal government do not specify an I.Q. level in their definition of mental illness (usually below 75), making this an issue for the court to determine based on expert testimony. (Human Rights Watch)
Sources of info are from these sites.
www.amnestyusa.org
http://www.nodeathpenalty.org
Really Long Link
2. It’s racist: According to US Department of Justice figures, nearly 80 percent of inmates on federal death row are Black, Hispanic or from another minority group. Minorities account for 74 percent of the cases in which federal prosecutors seek the death penalty.
3. It doesn’t educate our young people that killing is wrong: Duh.
4. It’s irreversible: If the legal system charges the wrong person, than an innocent person dies. “Since 1973, more than 125 people have been released from death rows throughout the country due to evidence of their wrongful convictions. In 2003 alone, 10 innocent defendants were released from death row.” (Amnesty International USA)
5. It costs more to kill someone than giving them life imprisonment: A 2003 legislative audit in Kansas found that the estimated cost of a death penalty case was 70% more than the cost of a comparable non-death penalty case. Death penalty case costs were counted through to execution (median cost $1.26 million). Non-death penalty case costs were counted through to the end of incarceration (median cost $740,000).
6. It goes against international human rights laws and treaties: There are about 12 international treaties on human rights that the death penalty defies; the most famous being the International Declaration of Human Rights, signed December 10, 1948. The Declaration proclaims the right of every individual to protection from deprivation of life. It states that no one shall be subjected to cruel or degrading punishment.
7. It doesn’t take into account mental illness: Seven states in the US and the federal government do not specify an I.Q. level in their definition of mental illness (usually below 75), making this an issue for the court to determine based on expert testimony. (Human Rights Watch)
Sources of info are from these sites.
www.amnestyusa.org
http://www.nodeathpenalty.org
Really Long Link
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Comment by Harry
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Comment by Lilla
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There is a wonderful woman called Robina Courtin who does wonderful things to the prisoners on death row.
A buddhist, the belief is that if you can get them to have a good thought at the point of death, then the next incarnation will be at a higher vibration than the one they leave behind.
I won't argue the symantics of that belief, but she is getting through where other's fail and more and more, go to their deaths with peace, fully rehabilitated.
Invoking the serentiy prayer on whether the death penalty should or shouldn't be abolished... as I have no full understanding of the gravity of the depraved mind and what motivates it.
Lilla ...
Comment by Damo
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Yet it still exists to satisfy someones desires.
Comment by Christine
Mind Orgasms
Comment by Christine
Mind Orgasms
Thanks for that info.. there are some great people out there working in prisons. I used to write to a young guy in the states on death row - it made such a difference to him to know someone was thinking about him. I think as more and more people bring peace into prisons and to death row, the more love we bring to a very dark place. That in itself seems to be making change.
Thanks again
Christine.
Comment by Christine
Mind Orgasms
Thanks for bringing that up... and I agree:
I believe we all create our world, we're all responsible for what happens in it, and we also have the power to change what isn't working.
I don't believe the death penalty works, and I also believe that around the world, people are realising this, even though change is slow.