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Argumentative Essay: Death Penalty In The United States

804 Words4 Pages

Valley Rivers Middle School
84 Pleasant Street

October 30, 2014

Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.
U.S. Supreme Court
1 First Street NE
Washington, DC 20548

Chief Justice Roberts,

Over half of the 50 states still use the death penalty. I am an 8th grader at Valley Rivers Middle School in northern Maine, and there should be a federal law that bans the use of the death penalty. The death penalty needs to no longer be allowed in the United States of America because many people on death row are innocent, it does not discourage violence, and it supports social injustices.

A study from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that about 1 in 25 people confined with the death penalty is most likely innocent. This means …show more content…

Also, in states that do not have the death penalty average amount of murders has stayed regularly lower than states that still have the death penalty. The possibility of being executed is not likely to be thought of by those under the influence (i.e. drugs, alcohol), those who have mental illness, those who are filled with terror or rage, and someone panicking while doing a totally different crime. Therefore, fear of execution is most likely not going to stop anyone who fits into any of the previous categories. The American Civil Liberties Union said “There is no credible evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than long terms of imprisonment. States that have death penalty laws do not have lower crime rates or murder rates than states without such laws. And states that have abolished capital punishment show no significant changes in either crime or murder rates. The death penalty has no deterrent effect. Claims that each execution deters a certain number by social of murders have been thoroughly discredited by social science research.” Not to mention, but along with not repressing crime, the death penalty has been proven to be racially

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