The Case Against Capital Punishment Essay -- Death Penalty Essay

  Ã‚  Ã‚   This country is determined to prove that killing someone under certain circumstances is acceptable, when in all reality there can be no rationalization for the taking of another human life.   Killing is murder.   It is as simple as that.   There have been so many different controversies surrounding this debate that often, the issues become clouded in false statistics and slewed arguments.   The basic fact remains that killing is morally and ethically wrong.   This fact does not disappear by simply changing the term "murder" to "capital punishment".   The act is still the taking of a life.   On these grounds, the death penalty should be abolished. Proponents of capital punishment believe that killing criminals is a moral and ethical way of punishing them.   They feel there is justification in taking the life of a certain criminal, when in fact that justification is nothing more than revenge.   They also feel that the death penalty deters crime, although there have been no conclusive studies confirming that viewpoint (Bedau).    Most death row inmates are members of minority groups that tend to be poor.   The fact they are on death row can be explained as a direct result of their marginal economic status.   These alleged criminals receive legal representation that is not adequate for the serious crimes of which they are accused, simply because they cannot afford to pay for expensive defense attorneys (The Death Penalty).   In virtually all cases of indigent defendants, underpaid and less experienced Public Defense attorneys are appointed by the court to represent the accused.   Investigative monies are usually limited or nonexistent.   This is one reason why minorities are over-represented on death row.   More affluent white defen... ... clearly support the argument against capital punishment.   There can be no justification for the taking of any life, no matter what the transgression.   By taking that life we, as society, have chosen to become as monstrous as those whose heinous crimes we abhor.    Works Cited ACLU Briefing Paper No. 14:   The Death Penalty.   ACLU http://www.aclu.org/library/DeathPenalty.pdf   04/26/00 Bedau, Hugo A.   The Case Against the Death Penalty.   Ethics Updates. http://ethics.acusd.edu/Bedeau.html#Opinion   04/26/00 Issues and Controversies:   The Death Penalty.   Issues and Controversies on File   http://www.facts.com/cd/i00015.htm#I00015_b   05/01/00 Radelet, Michael L., updated by the Death Penalty Information Center.   Post-Furman Botched Executions. The Death Penalty Information Center http://www.essential.org/dpic/botched.html   04/27/00