Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Response to "Stop Executions of Innocent People"

I was extremely moved by Liz's blog post. The death penalty is undeniably more popular in Texas, but I think it's time we rethink our forms of punishment. I cannot imagine being injected with a lethal substance for something that I was wrongly convicted of. That would be a terrible demise. Evidence and DNA testing now shows that people have been wrongly convicted of serious crimes. 

In my opinion, if one were a true convict, it would be more of a punishment to be locked up in prison to recount ones actions than to die quickly by lethal injection. If a person were incorrectly sentenced to life in prison and DNA testing deems them innocent, they still have a chance to be free. Those who die by lethal injection would not get the chance to be freed from the conviction during their lifetime. It is cruel not to give these innocent people a chance when the only "chance" they get is a trial run by humans who just want to convict someone, despite their innocence. 

Despite the execution being a relatively quicker sentence than a life sentence, it is far from a pleasant experience. It isn't even painless. They're given chemicals to anesthetize their bodies, relax the muscles, and to stop the heart. Undergoing asphyxiation, severe burning sensations, and massive muscle cramping which ultimately leads to cardiac arrest, especially without anesthesia, can be considered cruel and unusual punishment. 

Putting a stop to such a severe use of the death penalty would give the innocent a chance to be released some time in the future due to surfacing evidence or DNA evidence. It's hard to say no to the death penalty for those who have committed murders themselves, but it's also scary to think about when you put yourself in the innocent convict's shoes. 

2 comments:

Robert lawson said...
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