Reasoning and Critical Thinking

There is not a single good argument in favor of the death penalty Arguments in favor of the death penalty generally appeal to a desire for revenge , which our justice system is set up to withstand . Cynthia Tucker examines several arguments against the death penalty and concludes that America would be better without it

In her article , Tucker makes three arguments against the death penalty which all relate to her main argument that the death penalty does not apply equally to all . The first is that the death penalty unfairly discriminates against

people of color , both blacks and Latinos , and she makes a connection between the way the justice system in the past discriminated against people of color , and the way it is doing so today She makes the argument that in the past , a black person 's life was not worth as much as a white person 's life . If a white man would kill a black man , the most he may have gotten was a slap on the wrist . But if a black man killed a white man , he would more than likely be put to death and the man 's family would probably be terrorized in his absence . And today , although we like to think that our system is not biased toward one group of people over another , Tucker claims that because black and Latinos are overwhelmingly the ones put to death , our system still sees minorities lives as worth less than whites . Her next argument is that the death penalty does not reduce crime . Although many proponents of the death penalty say that if we did not have it , the crime rate would be higher , Tucker claims this is not the truth . Her third argument rests on the fact that the many people have been released from death row after it was found that they were wrongfully convicted . It follows that if the death penalty is this inaccurate , is should be abolished . She uses all these points to come to the conclusion that supporting the death penalty is bad for the citizens of the United States

There are several objections to Tucker 's argument that the death penalty should be abolished because it is not applied equally to all . One could argue that just because there are some problems with the death penalty it does not follow that we should abandon the procedure all together The United States Supreme court has ruled that it would be unconstitutional to have the death penalty be the mandatory sentence of everyone who was tried and found to be guilty of first degree murder Every trial and every case is different . Just because a one crime may appear similar to another does not mean that it is so . Besides this the fact remains that more white people are killed in the death penalty than black . Just because it seems like minorities are disproportionately represented on death row , it must be remembered that they commit more crimes than whites . People guilty of crimes should be punished accordingly . It should not matter whether one is black or white . Even if some people do get off more easily , we should retain the death penalty and be able to apply it in cases where it is justified To get rid of it would let many people off too easily

This argument above seems like a well-reasoned response to Tucker 's argument against the death penalty . However , it is filled with many distortions and misinformation . The above argument claims that just because there are some small complications with the application of the death penalty , we should not rid ourselves entirely of it . But the argument does not tackle the fact that most people who are convicted of the death penalty are poor . When one considers the statistics , it is easy to see that the unfairness of the death penalty does not depend so much on whether one is white or black , but one the defendant 's socio-economic condition . Many studies have been done which conclude that the overwhelming majority of people who receive a death sentence are poor . Because they do not have enough money for a proper defense lawyer , in many cases they are stuck with a public defender or a lawyer who is so underpaid that (s )he does not do the proper amount of work in defending her client . It should also be noted that Tucker is right in her observation that the justice system seems to value white people 's lives more than black . Since the death penalty has been reinstated 202 black people have been killed for murdering whites . Contrasted to this only 12 white people have been executed for killings blacks . Both before and after the death penalty was reinstated , blacks have been much more likely to receive the death penalty for killing whites than the other way around . This is the definition of unjust

Cynthia Tucker puts forth a couple good arguments against the death penalty . And although the objections have been noted , I do not think they are very strong . I do not believe you can have an uncertainty with something as absolute as death . Killing someone is absolute , our institutions are not . They are run by people and people make mistakes It is a crime in itself to justify killing innocent people , or people that do not necessarily deserve execution , and letting others off in the name of keeping the death penalty intact for those that truly deserve it . Its outcome is too absolute to rest its defense on such a shaky foundation . Once you make a mistake in allowing someone to die , there is no going back . But personally , I do not think it should ever go this far . Like what was stated above , I think executing people found guilty of a crime , even if they are guilty , rests on some sort of savage desire for revenge . It is not the duty of our system to get revenge on people Killing someone for a crime and putting them in jail for life do the same thing they remove the guilty from society where he will not be able to commit his crime again . There is no need for the punishment to go any further . I also believe it is not the place of the state to be killing its own citizens . If the state serves any purpose , it is to protect its citizens , not harm them . The state is set up as a mechanism to prevent chaos . It does this not by moralizing and making decisions as people do , but as a tool to enable the removal of dangerous individuals from the rest of society . This is enough in itself to protect its citizens . It need not go the next step to enact revenge Revenge is a purely human emotion , one that need not infiltrate our justice system

As can be seen , there are conflicting views as to whether or not the death penalty should be abolished . Many people feel very strongly about it one way or the other . It is easy to be misled as both sides use rhetoric to do the best they can to get their point across . It must be remembered that both sides have an agenda they are pushing , and many people in organizations that either defend or attack the institution of the death penalty feel so strongly about it that they may be willing to bend the facts to further support their view . This is why it is necessary for a listener to be able to think critically and logically about what is being said to be able to make their own decision ...