You know, I actually agree on the point that crimes like murder rather than adultery are definitely more "worthy" of severe punishment, if you can say that. The problem still remains that regardless of the crime being punished, capital punishment is still incredibly backwards in many respects.
Firstly, there's the method of execution. Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, 157 executions have been carried out by electrocution, 11 by gas chamber, 3 by hanging and 3 by firing squad, which are all still legal in some states. Obviously lots of people agree that those aren't exactly "humane" methods of execution, which led to the creation of the lethal injection as a less cruel and supposedly painless option... which hasn't exactly proven to be the case.
One of the reasons cited for the pain-free nature of the lethal injection is that in the three-drug injection, the first drug is an anesthetic which is meant to render the person unconscious and unable to feel pain. But since the Code of Medical Ethics prevents physicians from participating in lethal injections, there is no medical personnel that verifies whether or not the drug has taken effect an that the person is actually unconscious before the administration of the paralyzing agents. In fact, in most executions the three drugs are administered as fast as the executioner can push the syringes into the intravenous equipment. In fact, the man who created the lethal injection was quoted as saying, "it never occurred to me when we set this up that we’d have complete idiots administering the drugs".
So if the anesthesia isn't properly administered, the person will feel the excruciating pain of the potassium chloride killing him but will simply be paralyzed and unable to feel the pain. In a special hearing for the Louisiana v. Code death penalty case (2003), the warden said that "the only thing that mattered was that the guy ended up dead".
In fact, potassium chloride can cause such excruciating pain that the American Veterinary Medical Association prohibits its use for animal euthanasia, unless it is established that the animal is properly anesthetized. Also, the association even banned the use of paralytic drugs like those used in lethal injections because of its potential to mask experienced pain. Essentially, the death penalty treats human prisoners worse than we treat animals.
Secondly, there's the arbitrary factor and discrimination of the executions. There's the geographical arbitrariness:80% of all executions are carried out in the South, while the Northeast has been responsible for less than 2%, with Texas alone accounting for almost 38% of total executions. Sucks if you live in Texas!
There's also the political influence: governors may grant clemency, and so executions are influenced why the whims and personal beliefs of state government. Executions are more likely to be carried out in election years.
In terms of discrimination, I won't go into it in detail but social class and wealth also affects the application of the death penalty. Almost all criminals sentenced to the death penalty have been unable to afford their own legal representation at trial, meaning they get court-appointed attourneys who often do not have the required experience for such important trials, and are often underpaid, overworked and in rare cases have even fallen asleep in court or been under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Minority groups tend to be poorer and therefore have higher probabilities of being convicted and less chance of reversing their conviction through appeals processes. Since 1973, over 130 people have had their convictions overturned and been spared the death penalty due to later evidence showing wrongful conviction.
There is obvious gender and racial disparity as well. Females are more likely to be granted clemency or given preferential treatment during trial. There's racial discrimination not only for the criminal but for the victim as well. Although blacks account for about half of all homicide victims, 77% of executions performed since 1977 involved cases where the murder victim was white. Studies figured out that the defendant is three to four times more likely to be sentenced to the death penalty in cases where the victim is white rather than black. There seems to be more willingness to punish someone to death when they kill someone white.
So it's a bit of a tough question... obviously that's why there's so much debate and controversy surrounding the issue. I'm personally unsure as to whether capital punishment is morally acceptable, but I'm definitely sure that the way it exists right now in the States is definitely not acceptable.
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