Final thoughts on the Death Penalty

All of my blogs regarding the death penalty have the same opinion. I am 100% against the death penalty. I think the intentions of ridding the world of murderers, deterring criminals from murder, and enforcing punishments are valid. But as of now I do not think we have an accurate way to execute these intentions. Too many innocent people are put to death. Too many guilty people aren’t put to death. The ways in which we execute is cruel and unusual. Until we can successfully fix all of the potential spots for error I do not believe the death penalty should be used. It is extremely difficult and time consuming to eliminate all potential spots for error. The moratorium on the death penalty is just because it is preventing the death of innocent people and allowing the country to try and improve our death penalty so that is it accurate and humane.  Illinois’ governor Ryan, in 2003, declared the moratorium on the death penalty. His view on the death penalty is similar to mine. We both believe in punishment in a humane manner. “I believed that the ultimate penalty for the taking of a life was administrated in a just and fair manner.” Ryan does believe in punishment but it was brought to his attention how flawed Illinois system of convicting criminals was. The lives of 17 wrongly convicted inmates were spared by the research of college students at Northwestern University. “Together they spared the lives and secured the freedom of 17 men - men who were wrongfully convicted and rotting in the condemned units of our state prisons.” It was obviously a big wake up call to the state that college students were able to poke holes right through there system and spare innocent lives. When my class watched a video about this in class I was shocked they are not lawyers, they were not trying to find a flaw in the system, it was simply a class project! They were average looking young adults. It is amazing to look at people my sisters age and realize what a big impact they made.  If that didn’t scream out that there was a huge problem I don’t know what would. I agree with Ryan’s decision because he acknowledged a problem, supported by facts, and acted on it in a mature manner. He took his time and did not rush into a decision and he listened to both sides of the argument. What is most assuring is that he was confident in his decision. “I know that my decision will be just that - my decision - based on all the facts I could gather over the past three years. I may never be comfortable with my final decision, but I will know in my heart, that I did my very best to do the right thing.” I agree that it is just to end a system that is not working properly. Life or death is no joke; we need to ensure accuracy to be able to enforce such a final punishment.  After reading the article from the New York Times, I felt like others agreed with my opinion. The writer of the article, Steve Mills, said “Then, with Porter's case still in the spotlight, plus a series of stories in the Chicago Tribune later that year that illuminated deep frailties in the state's system of capital punishment, the debate over the death penalty was transformed. Suddenly, it was about accuracy. No longer were the mistakes anecdotal. The problems were systemic.” Mills is saying something synonymous with what I am saying. The problem was so obvious and prevalent that something had to be done.  Overall I agree with the decision to put the moratorium on the death penalty in Illinois. Governor Ryan made the right choice to acknowledge and act on a problem.