In Alabama, where the death penalty remains an antiquated and inhumane practice, cries for justice are drowned out by the sound of a judge’s gavel. Despite overwhelming evidence highlighting the grave flaws and inherent injustice of the death penalty, Alabama continues to cling to this barbaric relic like a drowning man clutched to a lead weight.
EJI founder Bryan Stevenson poignantly states: “The death penalty is not a question of whether people deserve to die for their crimes. The real question is whether we deserve to kill.”
The most notable problem with the death penalty is its irreversibility. Our justice system, despite all its advances, is not infallible. Wrongful executions are not just a possibility, they are a horrifying reality. The execution of an innocent person is a grotesque moral stain that can never be erased, and a stain that remains forever on the moral foundations of any nation that recognizes it.
As Helen Prejean, a vocal advocate for the abolition of the death penalty, rightly states, “The death penalty is a symptom of a culture of violence, not a solution.”
Supporters of the death penalty like to tout the well-worn myth that the death penalty deters serious crimes. However, countless studies have debunked this illusion. There is no significant difference in crime rates between states with and without the death penalty. The supposed deterrent effect is a mirage used to justify the ethical and moral quagmire of state-sanctioned executions.
Albert Camus, a prominent critic of the death penalty, once said: “But the death penalty is the most premeditated murder that even the most calculated act of a criminal cannot compare to. What is the death penalty?”
The death penalty is nothing but a cycle of state-sanctioned violence. By executing those who commit heinous acts, states mirror the very atrocities they seek to condemn. This moral hypocrisy undermines the foundations of our justice system and pollutes our entire society.
Racial disparities in the use of the death penalty in Alabama are particularly striking. African Americans are disproportionately represented on death row, and cases with white victims are far more likely to receive the death penalty.
One of the state’s most egregious legacies is judicial annulment, a travesty endemic to Alabama until it was repealed in 2017, allowing judges to impose the death penalty even if a jury had recommended a life sentence. Ta. This practice turned justice into a harsh lottery driven by the whims of individual judges rather than the rational decisions of juries. Although abolished, the legacy of arbitrary and capricious sentencing continues to linger in Alabama’s judicial record.
The state’s botched executions raise serious ethical and legal questions and paint a grim picture of a system in shambles. The recent execution of Kenneth Smith using nitrogen hypoxia resulted in a nightmarish scene of convulsions and gasps, despite claims that it was painless. This grotesque scene is a blatant violation of the Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.
The political influence in death penalty cases cannot be ignored. Elected prosecutors and judges want to appear tough on crime and often pursue the death penalty to improve their public image. This politicization undermines the impartiality of the judicial system, turning it into an arena for personal ambition rather than a pillar of justice.
Alabama’s history of capital punishment has been marred by injustice and institutional failure. From public hangings to nitrogen hypoxia controversies, the state illustrates everything wrong with the death penalty.
The death penalty is not just a legal issue. It’s a moral thing. In a nation where justice is supposed to be blind, it too often peeks out from behind blinders and is biased and influenced by factors that are not present in a just and impartial system. It is time for Alabama to join the growing number of states in recognizing the death penalty for what it really is: an inhumane, outdated and fundamentally flawed practice that has no place in modern society.
