I would firstly like to start off by saying if anyone feels uncomfortable during any part of my speech you are welcome to leave the room as it may be triggering to some people.

“Do not fight fire with fire”. A simple statement, yet a powerful message. One that correlates with the immensely controversial topic around the matter of supplying human beings with a dreadful and dangerous amount of power, also known as, the death penalty.

The death penalty or capital punishment if you prefer, is a government-sanctioned practice where a person is killed by the state, as a punishment for a crime they are believed to have committed. Eligible crimes for this punishment include murder, espionage and crimes against humanity, such as genocide.

Correct me if i’m wrong, but I believe most people sitting before me today are able to understand the severity of these acts of violence listed above, and therefore would agree with me in saying criminals of such offence should have some sort of punishment set against them if convicted, right? But just how much power should we as humans be given, when deciding the fate of an individuals actions, and who deserves to have that jurisdiction?

Much like the death penalty, Frankenstein offers the same idea of giving a substantial amount of power to a human being which enables them to think they can control the privilege of life and death

The United states of America is just one of the 53 countries around the globe that still reinforce this punishment. A punishment that involves killing by methods such as lethal injection, electrocution, lethal gas and hanging. And although this may be known as the “ultimate” form of justice to those who deserve it, capital punishment does not provide as much satisfaction to a victims family or friends that some may think.

When executions take place, a surviving family’s pain doesn’t just disappear along with the perpetrator’s pulse, and some people need to understand that. In fact, a mother of two twin boys who were murdered at the age of 22, says ” revenge is not justice, Taking another persons life does not stop violence, and it certainly doesn’t bring closure. Researcher Marilyn P. Armour, found that family members of a victim experience more physical, and psychological health problems when a perpetrator is given the death penalty rather than a life sentence.

So if death by electrocution or lethal injection isn’t an act of revenge or justice for the victims family, than who and what is the death penalty actually benefiting?

Another unfair advantage of the death penalty is the equality of race.  The race of a victim has been found to impact capital sentencing and the process is known to be racially biased. Studies have indicated that race plays a decisive role in the question of who lives and dies by execution in America. A study by Professor David Baldus shows White-victim cases are roughly eleven times more likely than black-victim cases to result in a sentence of death. In 82% of the studies reviewed, race of the victim was found to influence the likelihood of being charged with receiving the death penalty. those who murdered whites were found more likely to be sentenced to death than those who murdered blacks.”  Can we not see the unfairness here? Is it just, to kill someone who is dark skinned for murder, while someone bearing white skin may only be sentenced to prison? The answer is simple: No it is not fair.

On the receiving side of this argument, some may say the death penalty provides positives such as preventing prisons from becoming over populated, or allowing for a deserved punishment for horrific crimes.

There is a point in time when someone who commits a horrific crime is beyond the point of rehabilitation. Not only does the death penalty create a deserved punishment that is equal to the crime committed, it provides a safety net for the rest of society. Why would we not want dangerous and evil humans kept off the streets of our home towns and restrained from committing another crime in the future? Capital punishment creates an irreversible deterrent that the murderer will never get the chance to take another life again.

The good thing about sentencing a person to death is that is still provides a respectful outcome to the criminal. These days lethal injection is the main process used that is painless and effective. The process of putting someone to sleep before they stop breathing and their heart stops beating makes the idea of ending ones life more humane and acceptable yes?

So why have so many countries abolished the idea of capital punishment, and why is the overwhelming global trend against executions continuing to rise?

If asked my personal preference on this highly political topic, I can say that by looking at the cold hard facts about the truths of the death penalty, I am certainly against it, and believe it should be abolished in every country possible. With every sentence of death comes a risk of killing a wrongfully accused person who is in-fact innocent of crime. No criminal justice system is perfect, therefore mistake will and do happen.

In the past few years America has had over 150 people taken off of death row because evidence showed that they were innocent of the crime for which they were convicted. Preventing this from happening to more innocent people will not come from filling the gaps in the justice system, it will come from the abolishment and elimination of the death penalty all together. And what about the question of, who does the killing? How does one country decide which individual is given the power to take away the right to breath, and the right to live? Imagine having a job that requires you to kill another, innocent or not- no questions allowed.

Life is a human right, therefore the death penalty is the biggest fundamental human rights violation yet, a violation that is also exceptionally flawed and dehumanising to our society. I believe today I have presented you with both for and against arguments and reasons that involve the death penalty’s influence on society and our world. I hope that from these 2 different perspectives you are now able to see how the cons out-way the pros to this inhumane punishment andI believe everyone should consider the fact, that the death penalty is a symptom of a culture of violence, not a solution to it, and action needs to take place in order to address this miscarriage of justice.