The death penalty has been around for as long as anyone can remember. As of today, the death penalty is still practiced in certain states. The death penalty is a social injustice because the killing of a human being goes against the sixth commandment, “Thou shall not kill”. Since the death penalty is against the law of God, it is morally wrong. It is understandable that he/she is being put on death row for the murder of another human being, which also goes against the sixth commandment, but who is the government to say it is his/her time to die? By putting some on death row, the government is basically saying that his/her life is not important enough. That is basically like saying since you weren’t in complete uniform this quarter, the teacher is going to ignore your 90 average and just fail you instead.
The value of someone’s life should not be put into the hands of the government because God is the ultimate judge; He decides when a person’s life should end. Allowing people to determine the lifespan of criminals is morally wrong. Criminals should have the opportunity to repent and learn from their mistakes. The death penalty is meant to teach criminals a lesson, but it generally does not make the crime rate go down according to statistics.
The best example is the movie Dead Man Walking. It makes sense that the Delacroixs and Percys wanted to see Matthew Poncelet die because of what he did to their children. At the same time, that doesn’t make it morally right to kill him. He should’ve been given life in prison instead. They didn’t think about the moral sense of the situation. They probably didn’t consider the factor that he also had family that cared about him and would be torn up by his death like they were about their children. They didn’t see him as an equal human being, so they didn’t think he deserved the same rights.
In Catholic Social Teaching the death penalty is seen as morally wrong. The only time the death penalty is seen as just by the Church is if there is no other way to protect society from the criminal. Honestly, what situation would make it impossible to keep the criminal alive because the society would be in danger? Can’t the government just put him/her in an isolation room in Rikers Island with maximum security and call it a day? There shouldn’t be a reason to kill him/her even if he/she is seen as a danger to society. That is what we have prison and officers for.
In Evangelium Vitae and A Culture of Life and the Death Penalty, Pope John Paul II and The Committee on Domestic Policy of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops discuss the Church’s stance on the death penalty. As stated in the previous paragraph, the Church says it is okay if there is no other option for protecting society. In A Culture of Life and the Death Penalty, the USCCB says “No matter how heinous the crime, if society can protect itself without ending a human life, it should do so.” Pope John Paul II also agreed with this in Evangelium Vitae when stating “[Punishment] ought not go to the extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute necessity: in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society.” (USCCB).
Justice could be restored is A) all the states get rid of the death penalty or B) the death penalty is only used in extreme cases as stated above. If the government does this, less people would be condemned to death. Then, the death penalty would no longer be a problem of injustice.

Citation: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae_en.html http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/death-penalty-capital-punishment/upload/penaltyofdeath.pdf
http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/death-penalty-capital-punishment/catholic-teaching-on-the-use-of-the-death-penalty-group-discussion.cfm