Does a government have the right to take the life of its own citizens? Death row is a high-security prison unit where inmates, until the day of their execution, watch their lives slip away in almost complete isolation. Is the death penalty cruel and unusual, or is it necessary to stop offenders from repeating their heinous crimes?
There are different ways execution is carried out in the United States, although, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, 100% of executions in 2026 have been lethal injections. Lethal injection is a series of drugs, the first to put the person to sleep, the second to paralyze the body, and the third to stop the heart. It is designed to be more humane than the painful, borderline torturous alternatives.
Executions peaked in the mid-1990s and have steadily declined in more recent decades. According to Urban.org, cases in Maryland involving the death penalty between 1978 and 1999 were estimated to cost taxpayers $186 million. “If the death penalty costs more and is less effective than life in prison, it makes sense to remove it,” science teacher at Cabin John Middle School, Andrew Demarest said.
For our community, the death penalty may seem like a distant issue, happening in courtrooms and prison cells far removed from school systems. However, this is not fully the case; The issue of capital punishment affects school students because they learn about it in school and they might grow up to be lawmakers who are influential in the creation of policies surrounding the issue.
In Maryland, capital punishment was officially banned in 2013 by then-Governor Martin O’Malley. This decision ended a long debate about whether the punishment was ethical or appropriate, and the maximum punishment is now set to life in prison in Maryland. “Honestly, I think life in prison is worse than the death penalty because you have to think about what you did,” freshman Grant Scofield said.
Even though the death penalty is outlawed in Maryland, it is still practiced in other states. The lawmakers in those states believe that the death penalty is necessary and proper. They feel that the only way to correctly respond to murder is to take the life of the perpetrator.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, since 1973 more than 200 people who were sentenced to death have been proven innocent and released. This shows the possibility of error in the courtroom, which raises questions about the downsides of a completely irreversible punishment. “I mean, if one single person is unjustly robbed of their life, that’s one too many,” junior Cole Morton said.
Historically, the death penalty has also been applied unfairly. According to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, studies have shown that a considerably larger portion of people who received the death penalty were Black, and the cases that were more likely to result in a death penalty were ones in which the victim was white. This means that someone could be executed because of the color of their skin and not the crime they have committed.
People in favor of the death penalty argue that it saves money and ensures that criminals have no opportunity to repeat their crimes, whether inside or outside prison. The death penalty also deters crime because people know that they could pay the ultimate price for their wrongdoing. Supporters also argue that the death penalty provides closure for the families of victims and brings about an end to complex and traumatic situations.
Students today are growing up in a time where questions of judicial equality and safety are front and center. Whether it be false convictions or the debate for the death penalty, the youth of today are going to be deciding the court rulings of tomorrow. The classroom conversations happening in this school in AP Gov and AP Psychology discuss how these matters might impact how justice is applied in the future.
The death penalty affects the lives of real people. For the individuals on death row, the years waiting until their death are filled with fear, regret and reflection. However, inmates awaiting execution see it differently, they know time is ticking, and they know their lives are defined by the fact that they will be executed. A death row inmate, Willie Darden, said he felt that the constant fear and closeness to death made him gain a greater sense of hope and freedom, knowing that he is not bound by any societal expectations. “Ironically, there is probably more hope on death row than would be found in most other places,” Darden said, according to the Human Rights Careers.
Ultimately, there will not be an immediate end to capital punishment. Controversy will continue and debates will spark strong arguments on both sides. However, the future of the law depends on the children living, studying, and learning about complex issues such as the death penalty in school.
