There are many steps and stages that take place during a capital case, and many of these are aimed towards helping the accused. Most importantly, the jury is taken under careful consideration. In a capital case, prospective jurors must be “death qualified,” so that they are able to make the proper decision regarding the defendant. In addition, the defendant has the opportunity to rebut the prosecution's evidence. This allows the defendant to establish innocence, showing that it is true that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Once the verdict is made, the defendant cannot argue his or her innocence, but even if found guilty, he or she can still fight for a lesser punishment. They have the chance for a direct appeal and can attempt to reverse the court's decision. I believe that the system is made so that it can try its hardest so that only the guilty are convicted. However, despite this attempt, and the many stages in a capital case, it is still never certain that the defendant is fully guilty for the crime. Although I believe that the system is strong and can be trusted, it is still flawed in some ways and cannot completely guarantee that it only convicts the guilty.
Personally, I do not believe that any type of intentional murder is humane. People have the right to live-how can we say that any death, even a painless one, is humane? Any type of killing is cruel and heartless. If I had to pick, I would say that the method of lethal injection is the most safe and successful. If injected successfully, no pain should result. I would expect there to be a greater chance of pain and discomfort from some of the other methods, such as electrocution or gun shots. The method of using a gas chamber, in my mind, is by far the worst. Millions of people were wrongly killed during the Holocaust by this method-it was wrong when Hitler did it, and it would be wrong to use now. I believe that all of the methods, with the exception of lethal injection, are cruel and unusual. Any time of discomfort that would be felt by the guilty individual would go against the 8th Amendment. I was disgusted to read that our country would allow such cruel methods of killing to take place within our country.
The death penalty takes time, money, and effort. Once the defendant is found guilty and sentenced to death, they are placed on death row and not immediately executed. I noted that out of 3264 inmates on death row, only 1099 have been executed. Interestingly, Texas is the state with the most executions-405, yet California is the state with the most death row inmates. Virginia has the second most executions, yet it has the 22nd most total death row inmates. This discrepancy is shocking, and I believe it demonstrates the flaws within the system.
The first fact that I noticed was, "88% of these experts rejected the notion that the death penalty acts as a deterrent to murder." If that's the case, then why do 35 current states still allow the death penalty? It was reassuring to note, however that out of 1226 executions since 1976, 1052 of those used lethal injection. Based on the information provided, I believe that lethal injection is clearly the best method. It is also interesting that the South had by far the most executions compared to the West, Midwest, and Northeast over the past 30 years. However, in 2009, the South still remains as the region with the highest murder rate. This makes me wonder how it can be said that the death penalty acts as a deterrent. The South uses the death penalty the most, but they still have the highest murder rate--not taking into account other factors, this proves that the death penalty does not stop murderers from killing. This information is incredibly interesting and insightful, and I think it is important for everyone to learn about it, because a decision regarding something as important as life and death requires as much knowledge as possible. I also believe that given these facts and statistics, it could change one's mindset towards the death penalty.
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