Life and Liberty, Denied: Why The Death Penalty is Dangerous

The Death Penalty is a violation of basic human rights and it is a serious problem everywhere but specifically in The United States.
As a country that boasts freedom and liberty, the U.S has been an avid supporter of the death penalty throughout history compared to other developed countries which have actively led the opposition against death row.
Many countries in Europe have prohibited death row due to the abundance of killings in the 19th and 20th centuries. While this problem has been ‘solved’ for most European countries, America still uses the death penalty at an astounding rate that has no sign of slowing down, especially with the current condition in the US government.
Just in Alabama, “more than 450 people sentenced to death since 1977,” according to The New York Times Editorial Board. But, “nearly one in four of those cases, the jury voted for life in prison — in some cases unanimously — only to be overruled by the judge.”
Capital punishment heavily favors the decision of guiltiness in most cases nowadays, in a court case on death row, the jury’s decision holds less power than a normal court case, inflating the power of the judge’s ruling.
The current political environment has created incentive for more aggressive and ruthless lawyers as well. “Republican prosecutors, many of whom pay lip service to Trump and his MAGA values, have become increasingly aggressive in pushing capital cases to finality.” Said Ed Pilkington of The Guardian.
Indeed, the shift in governmental control has led to an increase in the use of the death penalty because judges may be politically biased which can impact their final decision.
“Across the US, executing states are going to ever more extreme lengths to prop up the practice.” Said Pilkington.
Additionally, Death row is also particularly devastating to people of color due to the biases many judges hold.
“Since 1976, 34% of all those executed have been African American, while just 13% of the country’s population are Black, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.” According to Pilkington.
If the United States were to get rid of death row there would be 0% chance that someone could be falsely accused. Alternatively, some people may argue the death penalty is needed because there are no other punishments severe enough for some offenders.
Though this moral argument may hold some value, it is all too common to see an innocent person put to death, and then proved innocent by new information years later. In the case of true offenders, many may see death row as a way out of the public and governmental scrutiny that they would have to endure otherwise.
Overall, Death Row in America is too normalized and should be abolished because it doesn’t provide true justice and actively opposes America’s progressive ideology that the country is based on.