 who still have the death penalty. A widely publicized
execution might reduce homicides, but only for a brief period. Therefore, I do
not feel that Canada should permit such a deplorable undertaking of a human life.
I know they must be punished, but there is a better way.
Prior to putting someone to death, the accused’s lawyer will attempt
several appeals to the courts in order to lengthen the amount of time he has to
live; and dependent on a technicality, or a sympathetic jury, the accused may be
sentenced to life imprisonment. These appeals take up an abundance of court time
and cost the public millions of dollars. With the cost of these appeals, it
would cost the same amount to keep the same inmate in jail for a life term.
Would it not be better for the inmate to perhaps obtain an education or be given
the chance to rehabilitate, rather than strapped to a chair and killed ??? I
personally would rather see the inmate suffer in prison and have nothing to look
forward to rather than letting the government put him out of his misery by
killing him. To sentence someone to death takes one trial but to actually get
some one in the chair to kill them could take a dozen of trials. The question
must be asked why do we bother with this lengthy and costly process when we
could sentence people to life in prison, at the same cost.
The killing of a human being is very traumatizing to all. Whenever the
courts issue someone to death, the innocent everyday people who are involved
must be affected. Just imagine how these normal human beings, like you and I,
must feel after witnessing a gruesome killing of another human being. These
people will never forget the face on the person that they saw being gassed,
electrocuted, or poisoned. The prison wardens who must carry out the killing of
the sentenced inmate must deal with the emotional problems that performing this
act will accompany. Also the jury must convict the accused and then sentence
this person, whom they have never seen in their life, to death. These twelve men
and women are put in a position to decide if this person should spend the next
twenty-five years in prison or should he be sentenced to death. Would you like
to be put into this situation? I know I sure wouldn’t.
Another issue is what if a person has been convicted and sentenced to
death, and two minutes after the execution, new evidence comes out of nowhere
that proves he is innocent of all charges. How do you pay back this poor
person’s family? A long liable suit would follow, but I’m sure all the money in
the world would not bring back their family member. What are the police officers
going to do? They thought that they had the right person for the crime and now,
with new evidence, they were proven wrong. The death penalty is so final, and
it cannot bring a life back, no matter what the circumstances are.
In conclusion, I feel that the death penalty should remain abolished
in Canada and should also be abolished in the United States as well. The death
penalty is a barbaric and inhumane form of punishment. Capital punishment has a
very costly and lengthy appeals process attached to it, and is not very
economically smart. Also carrying out the killing of someone leaves extremely
deep emotional scars that do not go away overnight. People who witness the
killing are probably scarred for life, plagued with nightmares and they will
never forget the face on the accused as he was receiving his punishment. By
taking someone’s life, you too have become a “killer”; no matter what the
circumstances. I simply believe it is not right.