Capital Punishment - Video Analysis

Before watching this video I felt much more confident in the legal justice system. This video created doubt in my mind that perhaps the death penalty is not an effective way to punish offenders. Personally I believe in the old saying "an eye for an eye" and I think that if someone murders another human being that they should be put to death. The problem with our punishment system however, is that some offenders are getting the death sentence while others who committed similar crimes get life in prison. It is not right that poor people who can not afford a good defense, are getting sentenced to death while more wealthy people are committing the same crime and not getting the death sentence. If our country wants it's justice system to work, we have to get rid of the arbitrariness in the system. There has to be a distinction as to what constitutes death and what constitutes life in prison. We can not have a gray area. We should be able to look at a criminal's wrap sheet and see why they are in death row or why they have life in prison. There must be a clear difference between the two if we expect the system to be fair. We can not sentence offenders based on their socio-economic status or skin color. Each case must be judged based on facts, and facts alone.

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