Richard Kazandzhidi Kazandzhidi 1

Composition 1301

Professor Johnson

13 May 2017

The death penalty, or capital punishment has been around since ancient history and has carried on

into modern culture and society. Originally it was used for both as a punishment of a serious crime and to

also suppress any kind of political dissent and to keep people in order. Of course not all crimes were

punishable by execution but the serious crimes such as murder, espionage, and treason were easily taken

care of by execution. One could understand why ancient civilizations and countries would use such tactics

but in present day society, it is not warranted. More specifically, in America, it should not be allowed. By

allowing the death penalty to continue in the United States, means that it goes against its own

fundamental country values, morals, ideology and principles on which it was claimed to be founded on.

Before examining the negatives or positives of the penalty, one needs to dive into the origins of

American values, morals, and motivations and how it is not at all what the common person would like to

perceive. The foundation of American consciousness is the Individual. A scholar noted this concept

well in the book Gone with the Wind where the main character exclaims Ill never be hungry again!

For her this is the utmost importance (the Individual) . The United states was fundamentally built as a

democratic country; from its creation it was a democratic state. When people came to colonize the

continent- they had to build relations with one another and as a fact of life, they had to be in constant

dialogue with one another. At the same time of European colonization, colonization of the American

continent began with a large ethnic cleansing. Its scale had no comparison in the history arrived, this is

what they did, and it must be said bluntly. Humanity actually doesnt know all that much about its history
of terror- but if one goes back to the Carthaginians for example, when they were defeated by the Romans.

When the Romans left, they poured salt over the earth so that nothing would be able to grow there; at least

thats what the legend says. In the colonization of America by Europeans, the earth was not doused in salt

because it was needed, but they exterminated the native population. Wrongfully so! Aside from that,

American history knows about slavery and it is so deeply seated in the American consciousness. Even

Colin Powell wrote about how difficult it was for him as a person with dark skin- how many sideway

glances he felt on himself. .Similarly, today, the West portrayed Stalin as a terrible dictator who killed

many of his own people during the 2nd world war. Of course this is true, but, one can make a claim that

Stalin, in the spring of 1945 would not have used a nuclear bomb against Germany to kill millions of

people and devastate a whole country. But the Americans did this, against Japan, a non-nuclear country.

How can this be tied to the death penalty? One can see the hypocrisy that The American society have

done when they claim to be the fairest and free country in the world, even from its origins to present day.

The country seems to lust for power and control over people, almost playing the role of God. By allowing

capital punishment, America is continuing its regime of hypocrisy and not living up to what it promises

its citizens and the World. This is in no way an attack on the American people or government, but it must

be observed to understand how it behaves with people and prisoners today.

Its hard to believe that in a country like America, where the terms freedom and humanity are

frequently used, has a capital punishment for both men and women. A good question for the civilized

world is are they aware that it is not uncommon for judicial decisions to be incorrect, after theyve

carried out the execution? Sometimes the person has even confessed except later to be found that they

did not commit the crime they were accused of. Needless to say- only (a) God reserves the final

judgment in taking a persons life. That is a separate question however that is large and philosophical. If

one looks at other large countries that carry out the most executions they will see that the United States is
up on that list along with Iran, North Korea and Yemen. These countries that United States claim to be

uncivilized and fight against share this common trait. How can one bad mouth these countries when the

U.S resort to inhumane tactics like the other countries? Since the beginning of American history, more

than 17,277 people have been legally executed according to the criminal justice department. As recent as

of 1973, 144 people have been wrongfully executed. What would the numbers be before 1973? Wrongful

imprisonment is well known but not wrongful execution. How can Americans spread democracy or

any ideology when they go against their own? Why are there certain states that allow executions and

certain states that do not? Can America not agree on such a heavy moral decision that affects many

people? These are all questions that should be considered and importantly answered before allowing the

capital punishment to continue.

The prison system tries to downplay the inhumane way they go about executing people, but

results show otherwise. The inmate is given three different drugs in order to be killed. A sedative, a

paralyzing drug, and a drug to stop the heart. The formal drugs that should be used to properly carry this

out, have been banned from the world market. As a result, prisons use drugs that are similar in the use.

As a result, a clean and painless death cannot be guaranteed. Many inmates have experienced and felt

their own agonizing death because the sedative did not properly work and feel their own heart stopping

while being unable to move. There is a disturbing video on youtube that shows a mock execution that

(according to the director) follows the actual execution very accurately. It should also be noted that its

not a formal doctor who carries these procedures out, but a private hired third party who gets paid 300

dollars for each execution. Their identities and credentials are always protected so the public never really

knows who carries these procedures out. The prisoner lays alongside a priest who gives them prayers and

comfort. Do people not see the irony in this? A servant of God stands alongside someone whos life is

about to be taken. More so, they allow the family to watch and communicate final words as this as this

takes place. Many people cant stomach to watch animals being tortured to death, let alone people or
their own family members. When put in proper perspective its almost as if it is a high school science

experiment being observed. So when the facts are laid out, one realizes that the execution is done in a

barbaric and uncivilized way. At least the French guillotine could be said to be more human, quick, and

swift!

There is always the moral argument that these inmates that are on death row deserve to die for

their terrible actions. But as the old saying goes an eye for an eye will make the whole world go blind

can be applied to this. Serial killers and rapists do not deserve to enjoy the freedom of society, but that

does not mean the government can play the role of God and take away their life. If one were to look at

this as pure events and facts without a moral bias, the government is doing the same exact thing the

inmate is. How does one justify killing? Who makes the metaphorical line that says at this point inmate

X can be killed? More so, if they do receive a painless execution (given it does not go wrong) that would

not be true punishment, but an easy way out for them and their transgressions. Why should they receive

an easy way out when their victims did not? One can go into all the corruption that goes in the prison

system, but can the government not find better ways to use these inmates? For labor perhaps or to serve as

an example for other potential criminals? No use is given to the American society for executing people

that are already behind bars and locked away from people.

When it comes to dealing with justice, emotions get into the way far too often and can

compromise and invalidate many arguments. For instance, the Boston marathon bomber was captured and

sentenced to death. Why is this so? If this one man is already locked up behind bars serving life, does

society have a right to feel scared of frightened for their life? By being a free person without crime one

can imagine they are a piece of a board game, wandering about and living their life. The second that

someone violates the social contract that has been instilled, they should be taken off the board, as opposed

to completely obliterating them. An honest question to ask is Who benefits from executions?. Maybe

the victims family comes to peace with themselves but on a literal level it does not serve any purpose to
the country or to an individual. Rather than focusing on who to execute, the state and government should

monitor the corrupt private prison problems and mistreatment of inmates that goes on. America uses this

tactic a lot, to always find an enemy and to always give people a motivation to get behind America's back

and get that enemy. One can observe this in something as popular as the U.S elections. Throughout all

history during the election cycle, a candidate always try to use fear as a tactic to unite people against a

cause that might not be as severe as it is being painted.

Taking all of this into consideration; the injustices that were committed since the creation of the

Country, the inhumane way of executing, the wrongful convictions of prisoners that were sent to death,

the similarities between the U.S and other dictator countries, and the distractions from the real problems

at hand, should be able to convince many that this regime of capital punishment can not continue.

Bibliography
https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/

Death Penalty in America- Current controversies- Hugo Adam Beadau 1997

http://deathpenalty.procon.org/

http://harvardmagazine.com/2016/11/death-throes

http://time.com/deathpenalty/