The death penalty is a form of punishment that has been widely criticized due to its irreversible nature and the potential for wrongful convictions. It's time to abolish it globally, regardless of the crime committed. An alternative, such as life imprisonment without parole, would still ensure public safety while eliminating the risk of executing a person that could potentially be found innocent in the future. Victims famielies should also be considered in what they want done in the event of a gruesome crime. Many families don't want the death penalty implemented towards the criminal but are disregarded.

There are also many issues with the death penalty procedure, this would include things such as the waiting time before the execution (which can be an excessive amount of time). The execution may be accidentally botched, and tried multiple times before it succeeds, which can be considered cruel and unusual punishment. There should also be a system to take the perspective of the victims family as part of the punishment, to provide them a means to come to peace with crimes committed against them. Execution is permanent, it removes a person from existence entirely.

The death penalty not only poses a risk to innocent lives but also contradicts our shared human values against killing. This is a legal form of murder on a global scale and should not be this way. Furthermore, those on death row often spend an excessive amount of time awaiting execution, which can be seen as a form of psychological torture. Many while waiting upon execution, procede to try and take their own lives, which then prolonges the wait time before their execution.

Moreover, there have been numerous instances where executions have been botched causing unnecessary suffering and pain. “Sarat reports that over those 120 years, 8,776 people were executed and 276 of those executions (3.15%) went wrong in some way. Lethal injection had the highest rate of botched executions.” (Botched Executions. (2021, October 28). Death Penalty Information Center. ) This statistic shows just how much people experience pain while going through the process of being executed. Lethal injection is also one of the highest percentage of botched executions but was passed under  Baze v. Rees as a way of executing. This should be viewed as cruel and unusual punishment under the 8th amendment.

It's time we take a stand against legal murder and advocate for more humane forms of punishment that respect human dignity and rights. Sign this petition today to call upon world leaders to abolish the death penalty worldwide.

References:

Sarat, A. (2014). Gruesome Spectacles: Botched Executions and America’s Death Penalty. In Google Books. Stanford University Press.

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Glt_AwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP8&dq=death+penalty+botched+executions&ots=sqtYtVPCoX&sig=nhj0QLZ9vAB69h6cRt0sDKx0BpY#v=onepage&q=death%20penalty%20botched%20executions&f=false

Krumsiek, A. (2017). The Death Penalty: Just Punishment or Cruel Practice? In Google Books. Greenhaven Publishing LLC.

 https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Death_Penalty/YC1mDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1

Statements from Murder Victims’ Family Members. (n.d.). Death Penalty Information Center. 

https://deathpenaltynfo.org/policy-issues/victims-families/statements-from-murder-victims-family-members 

Oyez. (2019). Baze v. Rees. Oyez. 

https://www.oyez.org/cases/2007/07-5439