Fairness of the Death Penalty: The Death

Fairness of the Death Penalty:

The death penalty has been used across the globe for a long period of time as a means of punishment for offenders of serious crime. However, the use of this sentence has come under significant scrutiny in this century with regards to whether it's just and applied fairly. The scrutiny has contributed to the emergence of huge debates, especially after capital punishment has been used in high profile trials. As a result, capital punishment has become one of the most controversial topics throughout the world. The debates on whether it's just and applied fairly has been a major issue for policy makers, the criminal justice system, and the general public. From a theoretical perspective, sentencing a criminal to death is considered as an effective means of providing justice to victims and their families. However, when this practice is examined carefully, it emerges as an unjust form of punishment that is not applied fairly. This is realized when the death penalty is evaluated in light of various factors like deterrence, costs and rehabilitation where it seems inhumane and counter-productive.

The use of the death penalty as a form of punishment is not necessarily applied to the worst of the worst criminals. In most cases, the worst of the worst criminals do not receive the death penalty even though some of them plead guilty to murder. For instance, a former nurse escaped capital punishment because of an agreement with prosecutors though he pled guilty to committing murder of 13 patients. It's estimated that of the 20,000 murders that take place in the United States annually, only 1% of the cases result in capital punishment. The failure to apply death sentences on these cases is attributed to various factors including the effectiveness of the lawyer that is usually based on ability to pay. According to the Arkansas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, "the death penalty targets lower-income offenders" (2010). The minimal portion of cases that end in capital sentences is attributed to the seeming inability to pay attorneys. Consequently, nearly every criminal on death row are too poor to afford their own lawyers during trial. In addition, the low-income criminals are sometimes given attorneys who are lack essential experience to handle capital punishment cases, are overworked, and are underpaid. Therefore, the death penalty is unjust and applied unfairly because it targets lower-income criminals since its application is dependent on ability to hire personal attorneys.

The death penalty is mostly used through conscious and unconscious prejudices regarding the worst types of criminals or sympathy to victims. The use of these prejudices in application of capital punishment arises from the failure of sentencing standards to adequately and appropriately guide sentences. Based on findings by the Death Penalty Information Center, "modern studies of the death penalty continue to find correlation between sentencing and race" (2013). Racial prejudices have dominated the application of capital punishment to not only show sympathy to victims but also determine the worst kinds of offenders. As evident in research findings, criminals who murder white victims are more likely to obtain capital punishment as compared to offenders who kill black victims. The role of race in the use of the death penalty is demonstrated in racial disparities that dominate sentencing and executions. Actually, reviews of race and the death penalty in 96% of states that use capital punishment has indicated a pattern of discrimination based on race-of-victim or race-of-offender or both. In essence, the death penalty is unjust and applied in an unfair manner because of the conscious or unconscious racial prejudices that determine its use in case.

The fairness and effectiveness of the death penalty in punishing offenders is further questioned on the basis of its costs and probable conviction of innocent people. Generally, innocent people are wrongly convicted despite of technological advances that have enhanced the criminal justice system. While these technological advances have contributed to release of innocent people, they have partially contributed to the wrong conviction of innocent people. The conviction of innocent people is attributed to various factors including insufficient legal representation, racial prejudice, misconduct by police and prosecution, and perjured testimony. Many studies have revealed that the death sentence is not a deterrent to violent crimes as compared to a sentence of life imprisonment. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, "The death penalty is a waste of taxpayer funds and has no public safety benefit" (2012). Many law enforcement professionals have stated that the death penalty does not deter violent crime, which explains the lower rank of this form of punishment as a means for lessening violent crime. Furthermore, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has stated that states with capital punishment tend to have the highest rates of murder. Some criminologists argue that the death penalty has an opposite effect i.e. It brutalizes the society by increasing the possibility of more murder ("Arguments for and Against the Death Penalty," 2000).

Conclusion: