In his written article “Clichéd Arguments against capital punishment”, Wesley Lowe argues and supports capital punishment or commonly known, the death penalty. The problem with the article is that Lowe never fully gives his own personal opinion of why he is in favor of the death penalty. He heavily uses quotes and or references to state his own viewpoint. He indirectly tries to state that death penalty abolitionists are trying to preserve murders and killers, when he says “Abolitionists tend to focus on the death penalty's physical aspects to demonstrate that it is the same as murder while completely ignoring its moral aspects involved, therefore, demonstrating their total lack of moral coherence.” That isn’t the case. Abolitionists oppose the death penalty because it is discriminatory, unfair, not a deterrent of crime and killing human life is morally wrong under ALL circumstances.

As a Democratic nation, capital punishment doesn’t belong in our system. There have been 118 countries that have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. Most European countries and Latin America have abolished capital punishment over the last fifty years, except the US, most democracies in Asia and totalitarian governments. According to Amnesty International’s annual report on official judicial executions, in 2004 there were 3,797 executions in 25 countries. 90% of the executions were performed in China. The remaining top four were Iran (230), Vietnam (64), United States (59), followed by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Kuwait, Bangladesh, Singapore, Yemen and Egypt. As the shining beacon of liberty, justice and equality, the home of the free and land of the brave, being in the company of authoritarian and tyrannical regimes is a blemish on a this country’s documentation.

Over the years support for the death penalty has diminished. According to a Gallop opinion poll done in October 2005, 64% supported it. Down from 80% in 1994, a 27-year low. A good reason is because of the allowance of DNA evidence that has freed a number of people on death row and from wrongful convictions. 122 people have been taken off death row since 1973 due to evidence that was allowed in the case, particular the allowance of DNA testing. Wrongful convictions often result from false confessions, mistaken eyewitnesses, and prosecutorial abuse.

The death penalty is unfair towards race, class, and gender. Support for the death penalty has also waned because of the increasing availability of life without parole sentences, which are not, provided all but one of the death penalty. The death penalty also costs society more than life in prison. It costs a state more in prosecuting a death penalty case because it drains money that can be used for education and social programs. Convicted murders can be sentenced to lengthy prison terms, including life like in countries that have abolished the death penalty. Currently 47 states have life sentences without the possibility of parole, and 18 have at least no chances of parole.

People who support the death penalty give the reason that it deters crime. If someone plans to kill another person, they will be petrified of the chance that they themselves would be put to death. That isn’t the case. Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, the south has had 80% of the executions and that region has the highest murder rate. The Northeast has the lowest murder rate and has accounted for less than 1% of the executions.

Lowe’s take and defense on capital punishment is idealistic to put it short and lacks any depth. What is moral about executing another human being? Would Jesus be for the death penalty too Mr. Lowe? I am sure he knows something about torture and punishment. Lowe also never states where he stands on the execution of minors and people with mental disabilities. My guess is that it is had to defend the killing of minors and the mentally challenged from a moral stand point as he tries to argue.

It is time to put the death penalty away for good. It is immoral, unfair and discriminatory. Innocent people are wrongfully convicted. It is not a remedy or prevention of future crime. In a civilized society like this, why do we need a practice that is a barbaric remnant of an uncivilized society? It is time for capital punishment to be put to sleep. The Archbishop of Washington, Catholic Cardinal McCarrick said it best “The death penalty diminished all of us, increases disrespect for human life, and offers the tragic illusion that we can teach that killing is wrong by killing”. I couldn’t agree more.