Capital Punishment: Position Paper
Although Canada abolished the death penalty in 1976, the debate over capital punishment continues to surface in Canadian social institutions such as school classrooms and the media. This is not surprising, however, when you consider the fact that the US government, and a vast majority of states south of the 49th parallel, still support capital punishment. Nevertheless, capital punishment is an out-dated system that serves no real purpose in today's modern society; it is essential for the civilized world to cease executions and prohibit the death penalty from murdering another victim. How can we, as members of society, say that we truly value human life, when our answer to murder is yet another senseless act of murder? Capital punishment is relative of the old-fashioned motto "an eye for an eye," which no longer has any grounds in the twenty-first century. The very idea of capital punis
Other states have shown similar results. Pataki, governor of the state of New York, reinstated the death penalty in September 1995, he noticed that the crime rate had declined significantly. Matthew spent seven years on death row before he was released, Krone spent ten years, while Williams spent eighteen years, only yards away from the execution chamber. Innocent lives risk execution with the death penalty in place. Fiorenza, "We oppose the death penalty not just for what it does to those guilty of heinous crimes, but for what it does to all of us: it offers the tragic illusion that we can defend life by taking life. Krone and Williams were also convicted of murder they did not commit. Capital punishment is hypocritical and a direct threat to humanity, capable of destroying the delicate fabric of any humane society. In a world already engulfed with tales of war and violence and graphic images in the media, capital punishment only spur the flames of hatred and violence onward. In addition to this fact, it would be wrong to base the crime rate on a single factor. Ryan Matthew, incarcerated as a teenager, was vindicated after DNA evidence proved he had nothing to do with a 1997 robbery and murder of a grocer. Ryan Matthew, Dennis Williams and Ray Krone were all death row inmates found innocent after years of being on death row. Supporters of the death penalty will argue that capital punishment is a deterrent against crime, which will in turn lower the crime rate; however, this urban myth is highly falsified. These states are wasting their money and resources on executions when their money could be better spent on life-sentences and rehabilitation.
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