Capital punishment is one of the major social evils discussed from time to time. A case can only reach the capital punishment verdict after a lengthy trial, and every aspect of the case is reviewed. Still, the death penalty remains one of the most brutal practices which are often applied to the poorest of the country, especially minorities.

With a system liable to error, the death penalty can never be the right solution. One of the jurors in a Hamilton County death penalty case recalls his days by saying, "I believed the myths around capital punishment. I thought it provided "justice" for the victim's family, and that it was fairly administered." He voted in favor of the penalty but later tried to dig deeper and act from the defendant's point of view and found that the evidence was wrongfully represented to the jury. 

"Participating in the clemency process made me fully aware of how irredeemably flawed the death penalty system is," he says.

In Ohio, for every six executions, one person is exonerated. It's not difficult to corrupt the system by misrepresenting a case and the evidence. Declaring the death penalty in such cases is nothing but cruel.

In a poll done in Ohio, it was found that 26% of people are against the death penalty, 36% of the people voted for life in prison with no parole, and 12% voted for life in prison with parole. Even if the convict is an actual offender, spending his life in prison without parole is a reformatory option that needs to be considered.

Now, take a look at the cost that the state incurs while proceeding with death penalties. These trials must be very specific, and no stone can be left unturned to grant the right decision. The process costs at least one million dollars more than fast-tracking the case for life imprisonment. Costs associated with the death penalty are upwards of $17 million annually in Ohio.

Spending so much on something inhumane and unacceptable is not the fight for justice and betterment. The money which is being spent on these cases could be used for the greater good and public welfare programs to stop crime before it happens.

The irony here is that if 10 cases are being fought for a death sentence, and only one case reaches the point where the death sentence is delivered. For the rest of the 9, it's always a different punishment, including life imprisonment. This means people are continuously fighting for something that is neither right nor happening.

The advocates of capital punishment believe that the death sentence is the only way to send a strong social message to the convicts. Take a look at it from a psychological point of view, and you will find that to be kept on death row for the rest of your life is a more severe punishment than just ending your life. Life in prison is never easy; solitary confinement for a lifetime is a punishment worse than death.

Judges, juries, and lawyers are human and are bound to make mistakes. Our penal system has never been faultless, so how can one grant them the authority to announce death sentences?

Inhumane treatment of anyone, even a convict, will not teach society the proper lesson. Instead, it will demean the value of life. The right approach towards an offender should always be reformatory. Therefore, Ohio needs to get rid of the death penalty.