Death row

Death row

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Abstract

This paper examines the abolishment of the capital punishment in various states in the country specifically two states and the reasons that led to the abolishment of this system. The research method used is a literature review. The research showed the various states that have so far have abolished this punishment, the year the abolishment was effective, the statistics of execution in each state and the most current executions. The consequences and risk involved with this system have also been realized through the research. In addition, the research shows the effect of this system of punishment on both the victim’s family and the convict and the cost the judicial system incurs every year.

Death row

The Illinois state is one of the recent states to do away with capital punishment after decades of debating on the risk involved in execution of an innocent person. The governor Pat Quinn signed the legislation into law in March 2011. The former Governor Ryan, had stopped all the executions’ and commuted the death sentences to life in prison to protect innocent convicts from being convicted following the exoneration of some death row convicts.

One of the reasons for abolishing the capital punishment in Illinois was due to the increased number of exonerations of convicts on death row after DNA testing. The court said that the harm caused by executing an innocent person is unacceptable and non-rectifiable. In addition, the time and money an innocent death row victim spends to prove their innocence, that at times amount to a decade destabilizes the victim’s social life, career and the trauma their family member goes through which cannot be compensated

The other reason is that this type of punishment is likely to affect the poor, and the minority people who have no money to hire good lawyers to defend them, therefore, it can rarely be imposed on wealthy white defendants. The lawyers provided by the state are either inexperienced, come to court under the influence of alcohol, are not well prepared and in some cases sleep during trials because they are over worked and under paid.

Another reason is the race of the victim involved in the case that affects the sentence delivered by the judge. The executions carried out mostly involve the murders of white people yet almost equal number of murders involving black and white people has taken place over time. Lastly, the court argues that it is costly to maintain a death row convict than it is to maintain a convict on life imprisonment without parole. The bill proposed that the money, which will be saved from the abolishment of this capital punishment, should be reallocated to the victims families and training of the law enforcement officers. This is because the victim’s families suffer financially even after the execution is carried out (Vogue &Pinto, 2011).

New Jersey is another state that recently abolished the capital punishment for all crimes. The executions were done away with in 2007 when Governor Jon Corzine signed the bill although prior to this abolishment there had not been any executions in New Jersey since 1963. In addition, the governor commuted the sentences of all the convicts on death row to life imprisonment without parole. One of the reasons that led to the capital punishment being scraped away was the emotional hurt that the families of the victims suffers through the various court cases, and appeals before a convict is proven guilty and executed. The process takes years before they get closure and the pain is relived every time the family has to go to court hoping that it will be the last time.

The other reason is the risk involved in executing an innocent person, which makes them suffer as they try to prove their innocence through the court battles and appeals over the years. In addition, the havoc and emotional trauma these innocent people go through and their families. For example, the case of Byron Halsey, who was convicted for murdering and sexual harassing two minors a boy and a girl. He would have been executed but was proved innocent after nineteen years.

The other reason that contributed to New Jersey doing away with the executions was the high cost of maintaining the system that had not been used in more than forty years. The cost of maintaining the death row convicts serving life in prison without parole was far less than putting them on hold waiting executions. Instead, this money would have been used to assist the victim’s family and invested in combating crime. The last reason argued was that out of thousands of murders committed over the years only a few were sentenced to death. Hence the abolishment of this death sentence because it gave the government the power to decide who lived or not and which crime deserves what revenge (Lesniak, 2008).

References

Lesniak, R. (2008, October 15). Why Abolition of the Death Penalty was Important. Retrieved from http://blog.nj.com/njv_raymond_lesniak/2008/10/why abolition of the death pen.html.

Vogue, A. D., & Pinto, B. (2011, march 9). Illinois Abolishes Death Penalty; 16th State to End Executions. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/illinois-16th-state-abolish-death-penalty/story?id=13095912.