The Death Penalty and the United States
by Jennifer Crosby
The United States has long considered itself to be the world’s defender of human rights. So why, if this is the case, is the United States also one of the greatest violators of such rights? The United States is now one of only two fully economically developed countries (the other is Japan) that still employ capital punishment as a form of justice. By continuing to utilize the death penalty, the U.S. puts itself into the category of countries whose human rights policies it routinely condemns - particularly those in the Middle East, Asia, and parts of Africa. So why is this policy so rarely protested? Why has it not been at the forefront of American politics?
In December 2005, the lethal injection of convicted murderer Kenneth Boyd marked the 1,000th execution in the U.S. since 1976, when a decade-long ban on the practice was lifted. Interestingly enough, of the 1,000 executions, 355 took place in Texas. In his six years as the state’s governor, President George W. Bush allowed 152 of these to take place, by only reducing one inmate’s sentence. Indeed, President Bush has routinely purported capital punishment as a necessary means to lower crime rates.
However, it is important to note that the death penalty is not clearly a traditional right or left issue. While liberals tend to disapprove of the practice and conservatives favor it, this is not always the case. Both Bill and Hilary Clinton were enthusiastic advocators of capital punishment. Support for the death penalty was only removed from the Democratic Party platform in 2004. By the same token, many religious conservatives actually oppose capital punishment, citing a biblical respect for all life.
With such discrepant views defying partisan lines, it is hard for any change to readily be made. However, it does not seem to be an issue for most Americans. In October 2005, a study showed that 64% of Americans approve of the death penalty. Although this is the lowest figure in nearly 30 years (it was once 80%), it also clearly demonstrates that a marked majority of Americans have no qualms about being the only Western country to continue the practice that most of the West now considers to be inhumane - even barbaric.
When the death penalty is further investigated, it becomes not only appalling, but also hypocritical. It clearly goes against the U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which in Article Five, states that, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” How can the U.S. be a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and blatantly disregard this clear mandate? In addition to its Declaration, the U.N. has a Convention on the Rights of the Child, which makes juvenile capital punishment illegal. Only two countries have refused to ratify it - the United States and Somalia. Somalia cannot sign, because it has no official government.
Those in favor of the death penalty argue that it is an effective way of deterring crime, especially murder. However, crime rates in countries not practicing capital punishment are notably lower than those in the United States. Although there has been no recorded wrongful execution since 1976, there have been countless criminals found to be innocent while on Death Row, some merely a day away from their executions. Not only does the government not have the right to take away life with this obvious room for error; it does not have the right to take away life at all.
There are countless other arguments to abolish the death penalty: the emotional needs of the convict’s family, the possibility for his or her rehabilitation, the obvious racial prejudice in many Death Row sentences; however, these are all secondary. In practicing capital punishment, the government is essentially attempting to play God - taking away life as they see fit. As of yet, many in the U.S. (including the current administration) maintain a hypocritical “pro life” viewpoint that still embraces capital punishment. Hopefully, with organizations like Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch actively working to abolish the death penalty, the United States will one day – and with any luck sooner rather than later - join the rest of the Western World in getting rid of a policy that accounts for so many senseless and inhumane deaths.
Sources:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4493978.stm
http://web.amnesty.org/pages/deathpenalty-facts-eng
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cp.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment
