Capital Punishment: To Kill or not to Kill? What a stupid question!

Ever since I can remember, back in my high school days, I’ve always had a strong opinion on capital punishment. I specifically remember in my sophomore year in high school in Mr. Dibb’s English class where I formed a class discussion on the subject. To this day I still stand behind my opinion on it, and though people may not agree with me, I’m open to their opinion. Yes, it is a controversial topic, and I believe that there will never be a right or wrong answer. Just a decision that is made in the process. However, a decision that always costs someone’s life.

Let me start by saying that NO! I don’t believe in capital punishment and here’s why…….
I find that capital punishment (i.e. the death penalty) is a contradiction to the governments own rules and commandments. How is it possible for a government to decide to kill someone when no other person in the world has that right? What gives them that permission to take the life of that criminal who committed that crime? Should we consider the government to be criminals when they kill these criminals? No one has the right to say who lives or dies. Not even the government.

Now, the question “Well does he/she deserve it?” comes to mind. I personally (and morally) agree and don’t believe any person should be killed by another person (or in this case, any governmental organization) under any circumstances whatsoever. Whenever I state this last sentence of mine, I always get the following: “But what if he/she killed someone you know? What if he/she killed someone you love? What if he/she killed hundreds of people?” After hearing those questions, I’m not going to say that my belief on it is not going to alter because I personally (and thankfully) have never been in that situation. I believe that if I were to ever go through that situation (hopefully not), I might change my mind. Key word here is “might.” We make our life decisions on experiences and this is one thing I would consider changing my mind about if I would ever experience it.

I think of myself as a forgiving person and often give people many chances. However, should I ever be in this situation, I don’t know if I could or would have the courage and strength to forgive and allow the killer to stay alive in prison. As of now, I stand behind my decision to never allow the death penalty as punishment to a crime and I hope I never get to find out if I would change my mind.

Another reason why I don’t believe in the death penalty is because I feel that it is an easy way out to the crime committed. I see giving the death penalty to a convicted murderer as an easy way out. Because once you’re out of this world, what’s left for remorse? Who carries that guilt when the government kills the criminal that should? This is why many families of victims say that they feel the same after the criminal who committed the murder of their loved one got executed because of the judicial decision. They don’t feel justices. They don’t feel peace. Executing that criminal will not bring their loved one back.

And lets not forget about wrongful execution. According to my research, as many as 39 innocent lives have been executed since forming capital punishment. I’m sure there are way more. Especially with the advances of detecting DNA. Since 1992, more than 15 death row inmates have been exonerated thanks to the advancement of technology. So I’m quite positive that more than 39 innocent lives have been executed. No one (not even the government) should decide who gets to die. I understand that this may be a sensitive subject, so I apologize if I offend anyone. This is just a mere way of expressing my opinion on this matter. Thank you for reading.