Capital punishment
...t 70% of offenders, without rehabilitation, re-offend more victims. They also show that only 50 percent of offenders that participate in rehabilitation programs commit further acts of violence. This evidence shows that rehabilitation caused a decrease of offense by 20 percent. It might not seem like a large amount, but that 20 percent can make an enormous difference when innocent lives are involved. Bobby Ray Hopkins, a death row inmate, writes a letter to the outside world about his experience in prison. His letter discusses the torment that he endures mentally, physically, and emotionally while awaiting his fate. In this situation, rehabilitation could enhance his understanding of life and the authority of the legal system. It is apparent, that a criminal that is not executed for a worthy crime, will more than likely spend life in prison without parole. It seems that the need for rehabilitation is pointless in this case. But whether a prisoner is freed or incarcerated, he or she is still capable of communicating with the outside world. This communication can have good or bad effects, but rehabilitation can allow the positive to outweigh the negative. Although they have committed a crime that is thought to be worthy of the punishment, I believe that they still deserve a second chance to improve themselves. Their improvement could play a major role in the advancement of the world’s ideas. After the sentence for capitol punishment is completed, the execution cannot be reversed. Because of this finalization, the possibility of an innocent person being executed becomes an unresolved issue. Once a life is taken out of this world, there is no way that it can be brought back. Statistics show that one out of seven death row prisoners have been found innocent in the last 25 years. According to Brian Gilmore of the August 2003 Progressive, 102 individuals have been falsely convicted of crimes over the past three decades. In some cases, the defendants are misrepresented and under-privileged, despite the constitutional guarantees of the right counsel (Christian Science Monitor 3/6/2003). This mishap can also be a result of loss of evidence, errors in DNA testing, incorrect eyewitness identifications, and false confessions. This evidence proves that the death penalty is not a fair punishment. Racism has become a major issue concerning capitol punishment. The legal system should be characterized by its discrimination and prejudice. I believe that a criminal should not be justified by his or her skin color, but by the crime that he or she commits. For example, the Texas law enforcement authorities chose Clarence Lee Brandley, a black man, from among many suspects in a case involving the rape and murder of a white woman. Plenty of people in Dallas have been sent to death row, but never for killing an African American. According to the department of justice figure, approximately 80 percent of the inmates on federal death row are black, Hispanic, or from another minority group. Robert Dunham, director of training for the Capital Habeas unit of the Pennsylvania Capital representation project of the Philadelphia defenders, notes that Philadelphia has been found to have the highest number of minorities on death row. This research contradicts this states slogan of brotherly love. It also illustrates the deception of the legal system. Supporters of capitol punishment believe that this system if cheaper than the expenses of the life in prison sentence. Although this may seem true, a New York study estimated the cost of an execution to be three times the cost of life imprisonment. Spending money on the death p...