Margiyev 1

David Margiyev
Rogers 5
October 25th, 2015
Capital Punishment
Capital Punishment in America has been around for over 400 years, however the death
penalty, or execution, dates back to times before Christ. The death penalty was part of the
Fourteenth Century B.C.'s Hittite Code; in the Seventh Century B.C.'s Draconian Code of
Athens, which made death the only punishment for all crimes; and in the Fifth Century B.C.'s
Roman Law of the Twelve Tablets. (Death Penalty Information Center) None of these abided by
a set of rules or terms under who may be condemned to execution or for what reason. The first
established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of
King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. (DPIC)
The death penalty does not have a clean reputation as it was abused by kings and monarchs and
many suffered from minor crimes, false information, and false conviction. Countless numbers of
people have been executed throughout the death penalty timeline, yet we still allow this immoral
and inhumane punishment to remain federally legal and just throughout the United States.
A major issue concerning the capital punishment is failure to execute without error. On
September 2nd, 1983, Jimmy Lee Gray was being executed by asphyxiation. After eight minutes
of gasping for air, officials were forced to clear the room because it repulsed witnesses. Jimmy
Lee Gray died banging his head against a steel pole in the gas chamber while the reporters
counted his moans (eleven, according to the Associated Press)."[3] Later it was revealed that the
executioner, Barry Bruce, was drunk. (DPIC) Countless cases like these exist throughout all
types of execution: asphyxiation, electrocution, and lethal injection. All of these cases have one

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thing in common, human error. Failure to execute properly deters the trust and belief citizens
have in not only our justice system, but the government as a whole. Many of the condemned
persons are wrongly represented. Inexperienced lawyers are a persistent problem in capital cases.
Quality of the representation one receives is crucial in determining the outcome of the sentence.
When a strong, intelligent, and experienced lawyer represents a defendant, the case is more
likely to have a different outcome compared to someone who is inexperienced. This is not just.
Almost all defendants in capital cases cannot afford their own attorneys. There have even been
instances in which lawyers appointed to a death case were so inexperienced that they were
completely unprepared for the sentencing phase of the trial. Other appointed attorneys have slept
through parts of the trial, or arrived at the court under the influence of alcohol. (Death Penalty
Focus) The right to fair trial is an essential right in all countries respecting the rule of law. Does
this seem fair? Equal representation is essential before condemning a defendant to capital
punishment.
The death penalty is a much more expensive due to the long judicial process that is
mandatory to ensure the justice and safety of innocent men and women being prosecuted for
crimes they did not commit. It cost far less to subject a criminal to life without parole than to put
them on death row. In California the current system costs $137 million per year; it would cost
$11.5 million for a system without the death penalty. (California Commission for the Fair
Administration of Justice) The economy and tax payers are suffering due to the superfluous
amounts of money needed to fund the death penalty. The additional cost of confining an inmate
to death row, as compared to the maximum security prisons where those sentenced to life without
possibility of parole ordinarily serve their sentences, is $90,000 per year per inmate. With
California's current death row population of 670, that accounts for $63.3 million annually.

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(California Commission for the Fair Administration of Justice) Thats speaking California alone.
We are far better off spending our tax dollars on something that would better our country, not
house convicts.
The biggest concern when sentencing someone to death row is wrongful conviction.
Eyewitness misidentification is the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions nationwide.
Research shows that the human mind is not like a tape recorder; we neither record events exactly
as we see them, nor recall them like a tape that has been rewound. Instead, witness memory is
like any other evidence at a crime scene; it must be preserved carefully and retrieved
methodically, or it can be contaminated. (Michigan) Human error is devastating when
considering an innocent persons life could be at stake. Faulty, poor, or simply inadequate science
has been used to testify in some cases without a proper scientific basis for their findings. And in
some cases, forensic analysts have engaged in misconduct. Many cases of wrongful conviction
include evidence of negligence, fraud, and misconduct by prosecutors and law enforcement, the
very people responsible for insuring truth and justice in our criminal justice system. Ron
Williamson and Dennis Fritz were released from prison in 1999. They were innocent men who
were wrongfully convicted of the rape of Debra Carter. During the course of discovery, the
scope of police and prosecutorial misconduct was exposed. In addition to egregious use of
fabricated testimony from the informants, the case was permeated with police and prosecutorial
suppression of exculpatory evidence. (Yaroshefsky) If the judicial branch cannot thoroughly
execute the death penalty process, than why have the death penalty in the first place?
Many could argue that the death penalty is unjust and inhumane and deals a cruel and
unusual punishment to its convicts. This Court has held that the Eighth Amendment forbids
punishments of torture, and all others in the same line of unnecessary cruelty, Wilkerson v.

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Utah, 99 U. S. 130 , such as disemboweling, beheading, quartering, dissecting, and burning alive,
all of which share the deliberate infliction of pain for the sake of pain, id., at 135. (Cornell) The
death penalty is very just in the fact that it does not cause pain for the sake of causing pain. It is a
humane method of dealing with those who have dealt inhumane pain to others. Also, one could
argue that the death penalty is a positive solution to some of the worlds worst criminals.
Execution permanently removes the worst criminals from society, leaving no chance of escape
from prison, or harm to innocent citizens on the streets. A quote by John McAdams says it best,
"If we execute murderers and there is in fact no deterrent effect, we have killed a bunch of
murderers. If we fail to execute murderers, and doing so would in fact have deterred other
murders, we have allowed the killing of a bunch of innocent victims. I would much rather risk
the former. This, to me, is not a tough call." When thinking about the innocent lives at stake, this
is an easy call. Death sentences are permitted only for the crime of aggravated murder (a
murder involving circumstances that increase its magnitude). (Capital Punishment) Keeping the
death penalty can be seen as a positive due to its security of the safety of innocent lives.
Capital Punishment does not have a clean reputation as it was abused by kings and
monarchs and many suffered from minor crimes, false information, and false conviction. In
todays times, capital punishment is a risky and unjust act because it is expensive, easily subject
to human error during executions, and those who have been wrongfully convicted have suffered.
We have to learn from our mistakes because the saying is true, history repeats itself. So many
states have expelled the death penalty from being a legal act of civil punishment; its time to
expel it as a nation. The expulsion of capital punishment throughout all fifty states will lead
America in the right direction.
Works Cited

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WEB
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- "Some Examples of Post-Furman Botched Executions." Some Examples of Post-Furman
Botched Executions. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2015.
-"Death Penalty Focus : Facts." Death Penalty Focus : Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
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2015.
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Doom?</i> N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2015.
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School. N.p., n.d. Web.
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N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2015.
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- Capital Punishment</i>. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2015.
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Nov. 2015.
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Reference Service</i>. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2015.
- "NICIC.gov: Resources Related to 'Capital Punishment'" <i>NICIC.gov: Resources Related to
'Capital Punishment'</i> N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2015.
- "8 University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law Law Review 2004
Wrongful Convictions: It Is Time to Take Prosecution Discipline Seriously Zealous Advocacy in
a Time of Uncertainty: Understanding Lawyers' Ethics." <i>8 University of the District of
Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law Law Review 2004 Wrongful Convictions: It Is Time
to Take Prosecution Discipline Seriously Zealous Advocacy in a Time of Uncertainty:
Understanding Lawyers' Ethics</i>. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2015.

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- "The Causes of Wrongful Conviction." <i>- The Innocence Project</i>. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov.
2015.
PRINT
Bedau, Hugo Adam. <i>The Death Penalty in America</i>. New York: Oxford UP, 1982. Print.