The death penalty has often been defended as a tool of justice and closure in convictions. It was established in the U.S. during the early colonial period with the first recorded execution taking place in 1608 in Jamestown. Nearly 319 years later, the death penalty has proven itself to not only be ineffective, but also irretrievable. The system that is known to inflict the harshest punishment is the same system that convicts innocent people, withholds evidence, abuses forensic science and disproportionately targets the marginalized time and time again. As we move forward as a nation, the death penalty cannot continue.

On Dec. 12, 2025, Elwood Jones became the 202nd person exonerated from death row in the U.S. Previously, he spent over 27 years condemned to die in Ohio for the 1994 killing of Rhoda Nathan. However, modern forensic technology proved otherwise. His conviction was undermined after it was revealed that Hamilton County prosecutors had withheld thousands upon thousands of pages of evidence, some of which contradicted Jones’ conviction entirely. When that evidence finally surfaced and updated forensic analysis excluded him as the perpetrator, prosecutors dismissed the charges.

Elwood Jones walked out of prison after nearly three decades on death row. He lost years of relationships, opportunities and freedom. This system of the death penalty allowed a state to nearly execute a man while sitting on evidence that could have freed him. Over the past several decades, people have been exonerated from death row because of advanced DNA testing, recanted testimony and prosecutorial misconduct. When a punishment is irreversible, even one wrongful conviction should be enough to end the whole practice. Since 1976, we now have more than two hundred.

Even with this alarming past, states across the U.S. continue to push forward with the death penalty, with the case of Tony Von Carruthers in Tennessee being one of the most alarming examples of this failure. On April 9, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) asked for DNA testing in the case of Tony Von Carruthers. Von Carruthers has been on death row since 1994 shortly after being convicted for a triple murder in the state of Tennessee. He is set to be executed on May 21, even with courts refusing to allow DNA testing to prove his innocence. According to the ACLU, unmatched fingerprints and unknown male DNA were found on items used to bind the victims, and earlier DNA testing already excluded Carruthers and his co?defendant. Because his 6th Amendment rights were violated, it is evident that he is not receiving adequate representation. His trial was filled with errors, and he was charged. If executed, he would be the first person in almost a century to be put to death after being forced to represent himself at trial.

People in support of the death penalty often reason that exonerations, the error caught before the action, prove the system works. However, exonerations happen in spite of the death penalty system, not because of it. Exonerations require years of legal battles, investigative journalism and attorneys working to establish innocence. With every person that is freed from the death penalty, there are more who lack the attention and resources that would uncover the truth. Many died before evidence surfaced, and even more never had their evidence preserved in the first place. 

Even in a world where the death penalty could be perfectly fair, consistently applied, it still would press a deeper question: should the state have the power to kill? A government that withholds evidence, relies on outdated forensic evidence and pressures defendants to plead guilty should not wield irreversible punishment. A society committed to justice cannot accept that risk.