Death Penalty is Another Name for Revenge

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"An execution is not simply death. It is just as different from the

privation of life as a concentration camp is from prison. It adds to

death a rule, a public premeditation known to the future victim, an

organization which is itself a source of moral sufferings more terrible

than death. Capital punishment is the most premeditated of murders, to

which no criminal's deed, however calculated can be compared. For there

to be an equivalency, the death penalty would have to punish a criminal

who had warned his victim of the date at which he would inflict a

horrible death on him and who, from that moment onward, had confined him

at his mercy for months. Such a monster is not encountered in private

life." -Albert Camus

There have been at least 349 people wrongly convicted of crimes

punishable by death since 1900. -Stanford Law Review 1987. How can

fallible human beings allow themselves to impose a punishment that is

irrevocable? Capital Punishment is cruel, especially in botched

execution cases. It is cheaper to contain a prisoner for life than it is

to kill one. The death penalty is imposed unequally among the races.

Capital punishment isn't an effective crime deterrent. Innocent persons

will inevitably be executed as long as capital punishment remains a part

of our legal system. For these reasons, capital punishment should be

abolished.

Capital punishment is cruel and unusual. Many would argue this statement

false, but how can an execution that requires repeated attempts be

humane?

On December 12th, 1984 Alpha Otis Stephens was electrocuted. The first

jolt of electricity, which lasted for two minutes, did not kill him.

Officials waited for six minutes to allow Stephens' body to cool, so

physicians could examine him. Upon examination, it was declared that a

second jolt was needed. During the six minute interval, it was reported

that Stephens took 23 breaths. -http://www.abolition-now.com/

Donald Eugene Harding was executed in a gas chamber in the state of

Arizona on April 6th, 1992. Cameron Harper (a reporter for KTVK-TV)

said, "I watched Harding go into violent spasms for 57 seconds." Harper

continued, "Then he began to convulse less frequently. His back muscles

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