Death penalty degrading to humanity
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Editor,
I am writing to let you know why this Montana resident is against the death penalty, and think it should be changed to life imprisonment.
There is always a chance that an innocent person could be put to death. There is not a single criminal justice system that is perfect, including our own. There can never be a guarantee that a wrongfully convicted person won’t be killed. I would rather see 100 criminals go free than one innocent person put to death.
A death sentence is also a punishment for the prisoner’s family. Think of how much you love your family, even when they do things that you do not agree with. When we kill a criminal, the family is left with the pain and suffering. They are punished with the horrific loss of their loved one, when they have no blame in the crime. It is unjust to these members of our community.
Many argue that the death penalty is necessary to deter violent crimes. I disagree. There is no evidence that capital punishment decreases violent crimes. A criminal rarely takes into consideration what the punishment is for a crime prior to the act. Most criminals do not plan to get caught, therefore, the punishment is not a deterrent. In fact, when society responds to crime with violence, it encourages further violence from citizens, therefore increasing crimes rates; it teaches our citizens that violence is a proper solution to “bad” individuals. This is called the brutalization effect. Responding to violence with more violence is irrational and will not prevent further violence. I would rather our citizens value and respect human life.
Furthermore, I believe that it is not within the rights of any person to take a life. I think that it is only up to a higher power to decide when someone’s right to life has ended. Religion teaches us love and forgiveness, not hatred and revenge. I believe we should take those lessons and apply them to everyone in our society, not just those whom we deem deserving. It is not up to us to make the final decision on someone’s life; they will have their judgment day from the Lord.
I am against capital punishment. I think life imprisonment will protect our society from dangerous criminals while upholding human dignity for all.
Barbs Schott
Bigfork
