10 Moral Hypocrisy

The late and great Indian leader, Mahatma Gandhi, once said, “An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.” There is no arguing that crimes associated with the death penalty–such as premeditated murder–are reprehensible. However, if we are to agree that taking the life of another human being can be categorized as the upmost heinous of acts, how can we justify treating such a crime with a punishment that mirrors the very thing we so adamantly condemn? It is because of this that support of the death penalty can be deemed as moral hypocrisy.

Moreover, current prison conditions have continually reflected racial and socioeconomic biases which make prisoners of lesser privilege more likely to be sentenced with the death penalty than those of wealthy upbringings and substantial careers. Bryan A. Stevenson, founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative, and professor at the New York University School of Law, visited The Daily Show with John Stewart in October 2014 to discuss the discord between morality and America’s criminal justice system. Stevenson noted that the current criminal justice system operates in a way that is kinder to people who are wealthy and guilty than those who are poor and innocent.

For this reason, it is especially crucial that the death penalty be outlawed in order to acquire true justice. In a country where the death penalty is shown to be inflicted more often on those that are underprivileged and innocent as opposed to those that are rich and guilty, we can not choose to support the death penalty in good conscience.