So far, twenty-three prisoners in the United States have been sentenced to death and executed in 2017. The death penalty, also referred to as capital punishment, is a sentence which is given in response to only the worst crimes. The process of capital punishment can often be lengthy and expensive, but if the offender is deserving, they may be sentenced to death. Currently, around thirty-one states in the U.S. administer this penalty, though it is federally deemed legal in all fifty. Death penalty has been a topic of debate for quite a while, with many different reasons for disagreement. The ideas of morality, money, justice, and deterrence are a few points of discrepancy, and while there are many good arguments calling for the end of the death penalty, this form of punishment should not be so easily …show more content…
However, statistics show that only about four percent of all executed inmates are later proven innocent of the crime they were convicted for. Of course, there are likely cases of innocence that will never be brought to light, but it is still improbable that these instances would raise the statistics by any significant amount. More often than not, the inmates being punished are indeed guilty of a heinous crime. When the death penalty is being considered for a crime, a jury must unanimously agree that the person in question does in fact deserve such a punishment. The trial process is long and the accused is well represented. An innocent inmate can rest assured that this sentence will only be given if there is absolutely no room for doubt. Still, people demand the removal of the death penalty on this sole basis. While their concern is understandable, the number of rightful convictions far outweighs the number of wrongful convictions. If change is wanted, the best course of action is to better critique the sentencing process, not do away with it