Is the Death Penalty Necessary?

Benjamin Cole, a death row inmate in Oklahoma, received a lethal injection on October 20 for the 2002 murder of his 9-month-old daughter.

“Oklahoma Assistant Attorney General Tessa Henry said Cole was infuriated that her crying from her crib interrupted his playing of a video game.

He reportedly killed his daughter by pushing her forcefully by the ankles, causing her to flip over on to her back, which resulted in her fatal injuries.”

Obviously, this is a horrific crime. However, is it really justified that he receive punishment as harsh as a lethal injection? This post isn’t focused on Cole’s specific case as much as it’s focused on the death penalty as an institution. While it may be becoming less and less popular, it is still a controversial and relevant issue. What is the point of executing criminals? Is there really any crime that makes one “deserve” the death penalty?

There are two main reasons a state could be justified in executing criminals. Either a) the criminal is dangerous to society and difficult to contain in prison or b) the criminal deserves to die. The first case has become widely irrelevant. While some people may be dangerous to society, it is incredibly rare for such criminals to be able to escape prison:

“Overall, the data indicate that approximately 3 percent of all inmates escape at some point during their prison term; annually, approximately 1.4 percent of the prison population escapes confinement. Most escapes (88.5 percent) occurred from minimum security facilities.”

To put this data together, there is only a 0.3% chance that someone would escape a high-security prison. This doesn’t even account for the fact that especially dangerous criminals are likely to receive extra care and attention to ensure security. No matter how dangerous a criminal could be for society, it is unbelievably unlikely that the prisoner could ever be a danger to society again. It is also important to acknowledge that inmates often stay on death row for decades before execution. If they haven’t escaped while on death row, it seems unlikely that they’ll ever escape and be a major threat to society.

The second reason (that some prisoners deserve to die) is often stated in more conservative circles. Instead of seeing the death penalty as a practical method for protecting society, this view sees it as an act of justice. This stance seems heavily inhumane. Death row inmates are renowned for having committed the most horrifying crimes (like serial killers, serial rapists, pedophiles, etc.). Many of these criminals suffer from mental disorders that the average person would never struggle with. They have impulses that average people can’t comprehend. If we can’t understand their struggles and motivations, how can we possibly understand what they deserve? I’m not remotely defending these actions. Rather, I’m trying to draw attention to the fact that we can’t even comprehend what motivates many of the most heinous crimes. If we can’t even understand this, how can we understand what a death row inmate deserves?

For the reasons stated above, the death penalty seems highly unnecessary in a nation as developed as the United States. It is absurdly unlikely that a dangerous criminal would ever escape a modern prison and impossible to know what any specific inmate truly deserves. For the most dangerous criminals, a maximum life sentence seems more than sufficient to keep society safe.