I strongly feel that the death penalty, or capital punishment, should no longer be allowed in the U.S. The reasons death penalty should be abolished are that: there’s no credible evidence that death penalty reduces crime, the person may actually be innocent, it’s unfair to many people, it costs more to sentence a person to death than imprisoned, and criminals should spend the rest of their lives suffering in prison. Studies show that the death penalty fails to demonstrate that it reduces crime anymore than long-term prison sentences. The states that do have laws that allow capital punishment don’t have lower crime rates than those without it. There has also been studies that show that 1 out of every 7 executions have been later proven to been innocent people.
Whether it’s 1 in every 7 or a thousand, an innocent life has been taken and an irrevocable mistake made. There has been many death penalty cases where race, religion, income level, and attorney quality determine whether a life is taken or saved. The biggest argument against capital punishment is that it is handed out in a biased and racially discriminate manner. The poor are more likely to be sentenced to death than the rich because they cannot afford quality/experienced attorneys like the rich.
The cost of death penalty per person is $2 million, versus $1 million for those with life without parole (about 50 years). Death penalty takes away resources needed for genuine crime control measures including, prosecutions, emergency services, creating jobs, police & crime prevention, and many more. I feel that giving those who commit horrendous crimes the death penalty isn’t justified because living in a cell for the rest of your life is harder. Death penalty has both pros and cons, but in my opinion, the cons outweigh the pros.
