Ben Dow: Shifting Politics on the Death Penalty

Ben Dow

4W

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/05/opinion/shifting-politics-on-the-death-penalty.html

The central claim of this Editorial, named  Shifting Politics on the Death Penalty, is about the change in thought about the death penalty and the political stances on it. It claims that the death penalty is becoming a smaller and more looked down upon area of our society.

The editorial cites how in 1992, during the presidential race and while he was still governor, Bill Clinton flew back to Arkansas to see the execution of a man that he did not grant clemency to. The author cites that it was seen as a way to show that democrats were not soft on crime. The author then uses a more recent example of how the governor of Maryland granted clemency to several criminals on death row, instead making them serve life without parole. The author was able to show the difference in thought of the death penalty in this way.

I think that the Death Penalty is morally wrong and should not be used for the most part. I also believe that more people are beginning to think of it as a moral wrong as well.