Punishment

Punishment

(introduction)
Todd Willingham was no angel. He admittedly engaged in violent disputes with his wife and drank too much. But even in the moments leading up to his execution, he maintained his innocence; he adamantly claimed he had not killed his three young daughters. Willingham spent twelve years in prison and then lost his life due to faulty science, political posturing and a jailhouse snitch that later recanted his story. Sadly it is now believed that Willingham was in fact innocent and the fiery death of his beautiful girls was simply a tragic accident (Alter 1). Because of new developments in bio-forensic technology, hundreds of death-row inmates have been exonerated of their convictions. One must pause to consider how many have been mistakenly executed or executed because of a biased and broken system that ends up costing the tax-payer millions of dollars. Because of the inherent flaws of the American justice system, the death penalty must be abolished in every state.
(background)
The taking of a life for the loss of a life is an age old concept. The Hebrew Bible, or Christian Old Testament, depicts this law as “an eye for an eye” (Exodus 21). The Romans executed criminals, traitors and Christians as sport in a very bloody and public manner. The French beheaded thousands during their Revolution. During World War II the Soviets executed over one hundred thousand soldiers for desertion (“Patriots Ignore…”). According to the International Death Penalty Center, the United States ranks fifth in the number of executions carried out in the world. America only trails behind China, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq. Despite the horror stories and questionable company the United States shares in its laws regarding the death penalty, the majority of Americans still support capital punishment (ABC News Poll).