Capital Punishment is Murder Essay example -- Argumentative Persuasive

Capital Punishment is Murder Capital punishment is state-sanctioned, premeditated murder. It is morally, ethically, socially wrong. Murder is the intentional killing of one person by another. Capital punishment takes the life of one person and uses another, "the executioner," to do it. In the state of Indiana, the warden of the state prison acts as "the executioner." The killing takes place before the hour of sunrise on a fixed day. On that day, the warden, "executioner," flips a switch sending approximately 2,800 volts of electrical current into the body of the convicted prisoner, thus ending the prisoner's life. Upon completion of the execution, one person's life is intentionally ended by the act of another. The difference, however, is that this murder is condoned by the state. The state's Supreme Court, Appeals Courts, Superior Courts, and prosecutors all play an important role in condoning the use of capital punishment. Many precautions are taken to ensure that all due process rights are given to the offender; however, I wonder how many times we have executed innocent people. In June 1992, in the state of Virginia, a man was executed for the brutal rape and murder of his sister-in-law. Throughout his 11 year stay on death row, he claimed he was not guilty of this crime. We may never actually know the truth, yet his life was ended. If his innocence could be proven today, his punishment could not be reversed. Without a doubt, we have executed innocent people in this country. In fact, Hugo Bedau and Michael Radelet reported that 350 wrongly convicted persons have been sent to death row. ... ...e the prison's visiting room for his "daddy." How do you tell this precious, innocent child that his "daddy" is about to be killed in an electric chair? Who do you tell him is responsible for his "daddy's" death? How do you comfort a mother as she sits weeping the moments before her only son is to be executed? How, I wonder, do these people feel about "justice being served?" In my involvement with inmates on death row, I see the pain of their families as they go through the appeal's process, hoping and praying that their loved one's sentence will be overturned. The death experienced by this set of victims is a slow, long, drawn out death. Murder and capital punishment are synonymous. Both consist of the intentional killing of a human being. Both are morally, ethically, and socially wrong.