Death Penalty
US and Iran both have one thing in common. They both execute their citizens in great numbers. The Iranian justice system is flawed and it is a classic example of why capital punishment should be abolished. Many so-called offences carry death sentence in Iran, from political activities to prostitution. Just recently a 16 year old girl was executed for prostitution, and just a few days ago there was another report of a 19 year old girl sentenced to death for the same crime. Most convictions are based on confessions extracted under coercion so they are invalid, and many trials are held without a defense attorney present. Many of the executions are held in public to deter future crimes, but the rate of the same crimes such as prostitution and drug trafficking keep rising .
If you put the flaws in American justice system under a magnifying glass you see the Iranian version. They both show the same flaws with different degrees of severity. In US also, many of the death penalty convictions are based on confessions or eyewitness testimonies that are later determined to be invalid. In trials in the US, the attorneys are present, but the death penalty conviction correlates with the skills and competency of the attorneys, or the race or wealth of the defendant. And in US, there is no public hanging anymore, but like in Iran the deterrence factor is not working either, since the murder rates in US are much higher than other western societies that have abolished death penalty.
The only other argument that is used in favor of death penalty is that it is justice for the victim, and the society should make the murderers pay for their crime; but there are many ways to administer justice and make the murderers pay. If someone steals something or breaks someone’s nose, his punishment is not to steal from him or break his nose. The punishment for a heinous crime can be spending a lifetime in a prison cell without the possibility of ever getting out.
Death penalty is not a deterrent, it is applied with error, it is plagued with discrimination, it is irreversible, and there are alternative punishments that can deliver justice. It should be abolished from every society.
If you put the flaws in American justice system under a magnifying glass you see the Iranian version. They both show the same flaws with different degrees of severity. In US also, many of the death penalty convictions are based on confessions or eyewitness testimonies that are later determined to be invalid. In trials in the US, the attorneys are present, but the death penalty conviction correlates with the skills and competency of the attorneys, or the race or wealth of the defendant. And in US, there is no public hanging anymore, but like in Iran the deterrence factor is not working either, since the murder rates in US are much higher than other western societies that have abolished death penalty.
The only other argument that is used in favor of death penalty is that it is justice for the victim, and the society should make the murderers pay for their crime; but there are many ways to administer justice and make the murderers pay. If someone steals something or breaks someone’s nose, his punishment is not to steal from him or break his nose. The punishment for a heinous crime can be spending a lifetime in a prison cell without the possibility of ever getting out.
Death penalty is not a deterrent, it is applied with error, it is plagued with discrimination, it is irreversible, and there are alternative punishments that can deliver justice. It should be abolished from every society.
posted by Mehrdad at
2:36 AM
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