by Skye Martin

Created on: October 17, 2007

"If the USA's capital justice system were a private company, it would have been shut down long ago. After three decades, this is an enterprise showing no measurable benefit for society, despite an investment of billions of dollars."
Amnesty International

Every crime is destructive to the social and moral fabric of society. In our society, we have punishment, but punishment was never meant to undo the harm caused by a crime. Rather, it was meant to fulfill a social function of justice in an attempt to ensure the greater interest of society.

There is a form of punishment - capital punishment - which does not contribute to this end. It very often creates more injustices and it does not function for the greater interest of society; in fact, it may be argued that it produces the exact opposite effect. And it may be argued that capital punishment is a threat to the liberties of all.

1. Capital Punishment Does Not Repair Hurt

Justice for murder victims and closure for families are often thought as key reasons to promote capital punishment. However, many people, including victims, believe that more killing will not bring closure and that capital punishment is equally as damaging to victims. Vicki Schieber is the mother of Shannon Schieber who was murdered in Philadelphia while attending graduate school. The killer was not arrested until 2002 and is now serving multiple life sentences for killing the 23-year-old. She gave her plea to the Murder Victims' Families For Human Rights:

"Losing a beloved family member to murder is a tragedy of unimaginable proportions. There is no such thing as closure when a violent crime rips away the life of someone dear to you. We believe that one tragedy of the death penalty is that it turns society's perspective away from the victim and creates an outpouring of support for those who have perpetuated a crime (http://www.mvfhr.org/)."

2. Capital Punishment Hurts More Than It Helps

Robert Meeropol was the son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. The U.S. Government executed them in 1953. Robert was only three years old when his parents were arrested and six years old when they were executed for "conspiring to steal the secret of the atom bomb." An attorney and long-time activist, Robert has since founded the Rosenberg Fund for Children in 1990 to provide support to children of parents who have been harassed, jailed or otherwise targeted for their progressive beliefs. Robert expresses some interesting thoughts about the results of capital punishment:

"As

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