The Death Penalty Should Be Considered Immoral Essay

1276 Words Dec 11th, 2016 6 Pages
How would one react to a family member receiving the death penalty? How painful would it be knowing that a child, husband, wife, family friend, etc. was going to be sentenced to, arguably, the worst punishment given by the justice system? Capital punishment is a very controversial topic, with a spectrum of viewpoints on the subject. Some believe it is necessary for a crimeless society, while others believe it is a very harmful view on violent crime in America. I personally am against the death penalty as a concept altogether. In my opinion, it is both paradoxical and hypocritical in nature to end someone’s life for killing someone else. The death penalty should be considered immoral because it goes against the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, it doesn’t deter criminals from committing murder, it is extremely expensive, innocent individuals are and have been killed, and it exists solely for revenge.
The death penalty is against the Eighth Amendment of the United States, and therefore falls under cruel and unusual punishment. Waiting on death row takes several years, which can be considered a punishment in itself, because one is essentially waiting for their death day. For example, Hakamada Iwao waited almost 50 years on death row, having no knowledge of when he was to be executed, only to be released for a retrial (Amnesty International). The most common form of execution is death by lethal injection, which is a combination of three different drugs injected into…

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