Abolishing Death Penalty Essay

Humans have realized throughout the years since we have been on this planet that history repeats itself. They have also been proving innocent people guilty since the beginning of time, to prove certain situations that they would go to extremes to prove one person guilty. According to Pew Research Center found in 2015, “56% favor the death penalty for people convicted of murder, while 38% are opposed”. When in 1996 “ 78% favored the death penalty, while just 18% were opposed”.

That's just over 1.5% of all the death penalties. Unfortunately, the rate of innocence is over double that, coming in at above 4%. These stats prove the point some dread: Many people have been killed for crimes they didn't do. Ledell Lee, a man from Arkansas, was executed on April 20th, 2017 for the murder of his neighbor in 1993.

victim and the defendant may be influential without clear guidance about the deliberation rules. Black suspects and White victims; blacks were more likely to receive a death sentence vs White suspects and black victims “Not only did killing a White person rather than a Black person increase the likelihood of being sentenced to death, but also Black defendants were more likely than White defendants to be sentenced to death” (Eberhaedt, 2006). Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck founded The innocence Project, in 1992, their mission was to free those who were wrongly convicted of crimes through DNA. To date. there are approximately 350 people exonerated of crimes they didn’t commit through the Innocence project.

Being on death row often prolongs the pain for the inmate. They spend their time in prison fearing the inevitable which for them is death. Today, we live in a society that is very divided on this issue. There are many in support of the death penalty, suggesting that it acts as a positive deterrent against future crime. There are also many

I am 21 and for as long as I can remember I have heard many stories about innocent people being accused of and being punished for crimes they did not commit. On Monday, March 20th of this year, I met Anthony Ray Hinton and learned about his story. Arrested on suspicion of two capital murders at age 29. He was convicted and sentenced to death despite having a reliable alibi and passing a polygraph test. It was only after repeated efforts by the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) team that the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overturned his conviction based on his attorney’s deficient representation and he was eventually exonerated after 30 years in solitary confinement on Friday, April 3rd, 2015.

In Randall’s article, she gives a few examples of individuals who have been wrongly convicted, in the first example she says “Kirk L. Odom was wrongfully imprisoned for more than 22 years for a 1981 rape and murder. He completed his prison term in 2003, but it was not until July 2012 that DNA evidence exonerated him of the crimes.” (Randall 1) Randall states the fact that Odom even finished his sentence before the FBI figured out he was innocent, but what good is that if 22 years of his life were taken from him. And a similar case happened, in 1978 Santae A. Tribble was convicted for murder and was not exonerated until 2012.

Innocent until proven guilty; this is America's renowned criminal justice principle. It states that a suspect is to be considered innocent until proven guilty with solid evidence; however, this was not the case in Lester Bower's death row sentence. After enduring thirty arduous years on death row upon reasonable doubt and being executed on June 3, 2015, Bower's innocence was confirmed (Executed But Possibly Innocent). Not only does this wrongful conviction contradict what America stands for, but a life that could have been justifiably spared has unpardonably perished. The world wide debate over capital punishment has been a heated topic over the years and is not going to appease any time soon.

All over the United States 329 people have been exonerated from their sentences. Mostly because of an error that led to another discovery and that same initial error resurfaced later on. States started to present ideas to battle such flaws (Dwyer, 2015, para. 11, and 12). Lobbyists for new rules urge opposing forces to look back on how the DNA testing improved the accuracy of investigations.

When convict individuals for criminal acts and making sure the right person is captured it may be best for law officials to use DNA evidence that would exonerate wrongfully-convictions. In recent years there has been great advancements in technology that would allow investigators to use when trying to prove evidence on individuals who are sitting on death row. Citizens have also, made great efforts ensuring innocent people are not convicted for crimes they did not commit. According, to the Equal Justice in 1973, there were at least 156 people released from the criminal justice system for being wrongfully convicted. When innocent people are wrongfully convicted it not only take away many years of their lives, and causing hurt to the victim’s

Since the founding of our judicial system there have always been individuals claiming innocence to a crime that they have been found guilty of, traditionally, after their sentencing no matter how innocent they may or may not be would have to serve, live and possibly die by the decision of their peers. The Innocence Project, founded in 1992 by Barry C. Scheck alongside Peter J. Neufeld faces this issue by challenging the sentencing of convicted individuals who claim their innocence and have factual ground to stand upon. The Innocence Project uses the recent advances in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing to prove their client’s innocence by using methods that were not available, too primitive or not provided to their clients during their investigation,

Should America continue to allow the death penalty? This essay will tell you why America should not be continue the death penalty. For starters, the death penalty is punishment by death; usually resulting after a crime that America calls capital crimes or capital offences. There are many of reasons why the death penalty should not be carried out in America or anywhere “Application of the death penalty tends to be arbitrary and capricious; for similar crimes, some are sentenced to death while others are not.”

There are people that have been exonerated based on new evidence of innocence. These people may be put on death row due to the wrongful conviction of a crime. The Innocence Project is a public policy organization that is dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals, such as Michael Blair, through hair analysis testing. The questions asked may be what crime Blair commited, who was involved, what led to the wrongful conviction, and how Blair was exonerated for the crime he had committed.

Wrongful convictions are not usually thought of but there is a numerous amount of people that have been wrongly convicted throughout the years. Within the US there is about 2 million people behind bars meaning that 1% or 20,000 people are in for a crime they did not commit. But however, in 2015 only 149 people were cleared of a crime they didn’t not commit. Also, recent studies have said 1 out of 25 people on death row is likely innocent. One good website that has a list and the stories of people that were wrongly convicted is innocence project.

“ Those who have been exonerated each spent an average of 14 years in prison, and some even up to 35 or more years...but they also usually have to wait a few more years if and before they are exonerated (Innocence Project).” This Explains that to be able to become free you have to still be in for years . The perpetrators and or suspects who were caught, “148: True suspects and/or perpetrators identified. Those actual perpetrators went on to be convicted of 146 additional violent crimes, including 77 sexual assaults, 34 murders, and 35 other violent crimes while the innocent sat behind bars for their earlier offenses(Innocence Project).” DNA statistics, and no evidence that showed he

In the U.S.A alone since 1973 130 innocent people have been sentenced to death(1) and in the last two years evidence has come up that indicates four men previously thought to be guilty may have actually been innocent and put to death(3). The death penalty is supposed to protect innocent people from killers, instead it murders them. And these are the people who have been discovered to be innocent! What about the ones who were not so lucky? A recent example of this is Richard Glossip a man who was sentenced to death based on a corrupt statement with no other evidence to prove him guilty (5).