Violate human dignity/rights
Abel Martinez:
Anti-death penalty supporters argue the death penalty is
unconstitutional -- "Capital punishment is a barbaric remnant of
an uncivilized society. It is immoral in principle, and unfair
and discriminatory in practice. It assures the execution of some
innocent people. As a remedy for crime, it has no purpose and no
effect (American Civil Liberties Union National Office 2-16-95)."
Jessica Spinler:
An argument against the death penalty is the basic moral issue of
conservation of human rights and humanity. The argument of retribution would be even easier
to dismiss if it consisted only of a base thirst for revenge. "Society must
manifest a terrible anger in the face of a terrible crime, for nothing less
will suffice to "remind us of the moral order by which alone we can live as
human beings" (Hertzberg, 49)." This is a serious moral argument. Opponents
of capital punishment must be willing to answer it on its own terms. They say
that "... the death penalty demeans the moral order and execution is not
legalized murder--nor is imprisonment legalized kidnapping--but it is the
coldest, most premeditated form of homicide of all. It does something almost
worse than lowering the state to the moral level of the criminal: it raises
the criminal to moral equality with the social order" (Hertzberg, 49). Indeed,
one of the ironies of capital punishment is that it focuses attention and
sympathy on the criminal.