Reviving a Sense of Justice

An Argument for the Abolition of Capital Punishment by the States
One’s stance on a particular social issue can often tell us a lot about that person’s character and values.  Similarly, the character of a nation and the values of its people often are reflected in the policies that govern such issues.  One such matter, the death penalty, deserves our attention more than ever in light of the denial of clemency for Troy Davis in September of 2011, an episode that captured the attention of the nation and several world leaders and brought into question the extent to which justice is served in our judicial system.  We must ask ourselves: what does capital punishment say about America?
The best way to gauge the character of the US as it relates to this issue is to compare it to other nations.  Today, 139 nations, two-thirds of all nations in the world, have in law or in practice abolished the death penalty.  Even more telling, in 2010, the vast majority of all known executions in the world took place in China, Iran, North Korea, Yemen, and the United States.
What does this say about us as a nation?  Is it mere coincidence that we are at the top of this list among states whose values and ideals are significantly opposed to our own?  Regretfully, the answer is that we are far too like these nations we call adversaries.  It is time that we retreat from this archaic institution as so many civilized and industrialized nations have to attain a modern-day sense of justice.
The way capital punishment is practiced today is one of its greatest flaws, and perhaps the most compelling reason why it ought to be abolished.  Almost all death row inmates cannot not afford their own lawyer, and time and again these alleged criminals are provided an inadequate and ineffective defense in court.  Location, politics, plea bargaining, and the forcefulness of prosecutors towards a certain sentence all needlessly influence the process of deciding who lives and who dies.  Furthermore, since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, 82% of all executions have taken place in the South as a result of more conservative values which emphasize retribution over reformation.  All of this plays into a narrative of injustice surrounding the death penalty, and tarnishes the image of fairness that Americans want their justice system to represent.
Also damaging to the credibility of capital punishment is its correlation with race.  Since 1977, 77% of all executions have been in cases in which a white victim was killed, even though African-Americans make up half of all homicide victims.  We may think that the days of racial bias are over, but the shocking reality is that race is the single most reliable predictor of whether or not a person will be executed.  This only contributes to the injustice of this institution and the bad image that our nation gets from refusing to address it.
Surprisingly, while arguments against capital punishment are usually employed by liberals, the conservative argument against the death penalty is actually one of the most effective.  As Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking, puts it best: “Government can’t be trusted to control its own bureaucrats or collect taxes equitably or fill a pothole, much less decide which of its citizens to kill.” This objection is relevant in two ways.
The first has to do with monetary cost.  In Kansas, death penalty cases are on average 70% more expensive than non-death penalty cases.  In Maryland, death penalty cases cost three times more than non-death penalty cases at the tune of $3 million per case.  And, the capital punishment system in California costs $137 million per year, as opposed to the $11.5 million per year that the state would spend if it replaced the death penalty with life imprisonment without parole.
An even greater cost to consider is that which we pay in innocent lives lost.  Since 1973, 138 people have been released from death rows because of evidence of wrongful conviction, while more than 1,200 people were still executed. The imperfection of this system alone ought to call into question its existence.  If there is one aspect of the death penalty that makes all its flaws stand out as unacceptable, it is the finality of this institution.  Once a man has been wrongfully killed by this ultimate punishment, there is no reparation and no prayer that can revive his spirit.
I do not make this argument so naïvely as to ignore popular sentiment, though fading, in favor of this institution throughout the United States.   It is my firm conviction that if Americans only knew the truth about capital punishment, they would opt for an alternative.
To expose the fallaciousness of popular pro-capital punishment sentiments, one must understand the paradox that the death penalty poses.  The law says that we shall not kill, and enforces this by killing.  At the end of the day, society must judge whether or not this is justice.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said, “To take a life when life has been lost is revenge, not justice,” and he has a good argument.  If indeed capital punishment is a fair form of justice, then why do we not rape rapists or mutilate those that mutilate others?  If this is a fair form of justice, then why must families of victims endure an endless appeals process that only prolongs their pain? We can only conclude from our experience with capital punishment in America that this institution is neither a viable nor an exemplary model of justice.
In our attempt to achieve justice, we have somehow convinced ourselves that capital punishment will deter people from crime.  Yet, in 2008, all 14 states without the death penalty had homicide rates lower than the national average.  And many local police officials and municipal leaders have attested to the fact that no criminal considers the death penalty as a consequence of their actions.  Furthermore, by choosing to have capital punishment, we are diverting valuable resources from genuine crime control in our neighborhoods.
Finally, it is the case that many Americans view the United States as an extraordinary and exceptional nation, perhaps even a city upon a hill.  And so now I ask, is this institution that has been proven time and again to be unjust and unfair a testament to our exceptionalism?  Ought we pride ourselves on being among the top users of capital punishment in the world, along with nations that are some of the worst aggressors against human rights and dignity?  We must realize that in every way capital punishment is unjust and unfair, the image and greatness of the United States is harmed.
As former Attorney General Ramsey Clark very eloquently put it, “A humane and generous concern for every individual, his health and his fulfillment, will do more to soothe the savage heart than the fear of state-inflicted death, which chiefly serves to remind us how close we remain to the jungle.”  It is imperative that the United States abolishes the death penalty so that our nation might truly reflect the values of fairness and justice that we, the American people, espouse.