Over a thousand people have been executed by the death penalty since the 1980s in the U.S. alone! There have been many ongoing disagreements about whether the death penalty should be abolished. The death penalty is quickly becoming an unpopular form of punishment in many countries. If abolished it can be replaced by extensive prison time instead. With prison already existing, inmates that would be considered for the death penalty should just get life sentences. It’s known that the main method used for killing death row inmates is often unreliable as well as deprives inmates of their constitutional rights.
The main form of killing death row inmates is lethal injection and it can cause serious problems. Injection is thought to be the least cruel method of killing but it is still not promised to work in a fast way and there is danger to it. The article The Case Against the Death Penalty proves how uncertain lethal injection can be, “As the U.S. Court of Appeals observed, “substantial and uncontroverted evidence… that execution by lethal injection poses a serious risk of cruel, protracted death…. Even a slight error in dosage or administration can leave a prisoner conscious but paralyzed while dying, a sentient witness of his or her own asphyxiation.” Although lethal injection may seem to be the best form of killing, it can still leave the victim suffering. Along with the inconvenience, the punishment can be costly and time consuming, “The average death row inmate waits 12 years between sentencing and execution, and some sit in anticipation of their executions on death row for up to 30 years.” (https://www.aclu.org/other/case-against-death-penalty) At the length that the victims have to wait their anxiety grows and can cause what’s known as “Death Row Syndrome” which is a severe mental illness, thus inflicting more distress upon inmates besides the misery that will already be caused by the penalty.
Not only is the death penalty disadvantageous but it is also inhumane. The death penalty breaks two essential human rights “the right to life and the right to live free from torture. Both rights are protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN in 1948.” (https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/death-penalty/) Prisoners already have so many rights taken away from them but when given death everything is taken away and essentially it is not following the laws of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is not reversible and has to be taken seriously, and even after death in some cases it is found out that the victim was wrongly accused. As humans, nothing gives us the right to decide whose crime is so terrible that their life must be ended, although the source http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=002000 states “We have the responsibility to punish those who deserve it, but only to the degree they deserve it.” But what crime is past the point of just confinement? Also if it truly is our responsibility to punish those that deserve it then incarceration is the best option.
It is clear that the Death Penalty is not beneficial in many ways and contains many hypocritical aspects. It is slowly making its way to be completely abolished with nearly two thirds of countries across the world recognizing it as an illegitimate form of punishment. With the discipline often being unreliable and inconvenient along with it being an extreme cruel way to treat a human, it should not be acceptable. The other best option is a life sentence in prison, this provides much more ease not only for the inmate but for everyone else that would be involved with the punishment of death.
