The Article below was published in Vol. 136, Issue 7 of the Lake Forest College Stentor on April 2, 2021.
Maryam Javed ’21
Opinions Editor
Throughout the history of the United States, the death penalty has been a heavily contested issue. A total of 23 states, including Illinois, have already abolished the death penalty. The state of Virginia is one of the most recent states to join the list. More than 1,300 individuals in the state have been executed since the first execution in Jamestown, Virginia in 1608.
On Wednesday, March 24, Governor Ralph Northam signed a bill to abolish the death penalty. Northam stated, “[i]t is the moral thing to do to end the death penalty in the Commonwealth of Virginia.” This was a historical move for the state considering its past history with the death penalty.
Northam also stated that “[t]he racism and discrimination of our past still echoes in our systems today. And as we continue to step beyond the burden of that past, it is vital that we also change the systems in which inequality continues to fester…[t]here is no place today for the death penalty in this Commonwealth, in the South or in this nation.”
I believe that Virginia’s decision to abolish the death penalty is a milestone for this country. It also shows how unpopular the death penalty is becoming to many Americans. In the past, Virginia was one of the states that were part of the Confederacy. The fact that Virginia has this history can push other states in the South, especially Texas, which has the highest cases with sentences involving the death penalty in the country, to push for more prison reforms and put an end to the death penalty.
As we have seen time and again, there are so many instances of individuals being wrongfully convicted, and many of these individuals are subjected to the death penalty. Minorities also face the death penalty much more than white people. I find the death penalty itself to be something that is cruel and unusual—and has no place in today’s society.
I feel as though ending someone’s life poses no benefit to public safety. If someone is guilty of a crime, I believe that they need to be held accountable for their actions, and they should be alienated from the rest of society, but death is not a reasonable punishment for these actions.
