Bulldogs Fight for Justice: Death penalty

Bulldogs Fight for Justice

Death penalty or capital punishment is a state-sanctioned practice of killing someone as a punishment for a crime. Everyday someone is being sentenced or executed for crimes. Sometimes crimes that shouldn't be criminalized. Law states to use the death penalty on the most serious crimes, but killing is never the answer.

Death penalty is very unfair. Most people who have been sentenced are minorities. In 2016, 42 percent of prisoners on death row were black, according to a Department of Justice report. Of the 20 people executed nationwide in 2016, 18 were white and 2 were black. Most people who are sentenced have cases that involve a white victim. Three-quarters of the victims in all death penalty cases nationwide are white; when looking at all murder cases nationally, that number is 50 percent, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Death Penalty should be abolished for theses reasons. Death penalty is irreversible and sometimes people are innocent. Since 1973, for example, more than 160 prisoners sent to death row in the USA have later been exonerated or released from death row on grounds of innocence. It doesn't have any other differences than imprisonment. There is no evidence that death is more effective than being locked up. It is discriminatory and is often used as a political tool. Like some countries in the Middle East use death as punishment for political opponents.

Donald Trump has promised to kill off 5 people as his last doings as President. For example, Brandon Bernard executed December 10th, 2020. Brandon didn't do anything wrong. As a matter of fact 11-12 of his jurors were white later 5 of the remaining 9 jurors regret their choice in putting Brandon in jail.

*Bulldogs fight for justice is a student written opinion piece for the newsletter. Views expressed are those of the students who wrote the article and created the graphic for for the piece.