Pros And Cons Of Abolishing The Death Penalty

Robert A. Heinlein stated “Under what circumstances is it moral for a group to do that which is not moral for a member of that group to do alone?” In the year 1996, the United States executed 315 inmates on death row. Meanwhile, in the year 2015 our nation only executed 28 inmates; the lowest number of executions since 1991. Therefore, the death penalty should be abolished because the decision to execute is arbitrary, the chances of executing an innocent person are too great, and the evidence to show that capital punishment deters crime is nonexistent. The decision on who is applicable for the death penalty is arbitrary. During Gregg vs. Georgia in 1976, the court concluded that the decision to execute should be decided based upon a list

Surprisingly, states that abolished the death penalty have lower homicide rates than the states who have not. “‘The average of murder rates per 100,000 population in 1999 among death penalty states was 5.5%, whereas the average of murder rates among non-death penalty states was only 3.6%. (Facts about Deterrence and the Death Penalty)” The death penalty has no effect on the recent decline in murder rates. If a criminal does not value life when it comes to killing another innocent person, why would he suddenly value his own? “Much psychological and sociological research suggests that many criminal acts are crimes of passion or committed in a heated moment based only on immediate circumstances, and thus potential offenders may not consider or weigh longer-term possibilities of punishment and capture, including the possibility of capital punishment. (Facts about Deterrence and the Death Penalty)” Most criminals who are capable of killing multiple victims have a genetic predisposition to kill, therefore most of them will not stop because of the death penalty, especially if the majority of them don’t value their own

(Anderson)” Evidence that psychologists and law enforcement have collected show that it is more expensive to execute a prisoner than it is sentence them to life. “Reviewing 15 state studies of of death penalty costs conducted between 2000 and 2016, the study found that, across the country, seeking the death penalty imposes an average of approximately $700,000 more in case-level costs than not seeking death (Costs of the Death)” Constant appeals is what makes capital punishment so costly opposed to lie sentences. Others who support the death penalty may also say “Studies undertaken over a number of years show, unequivocally that between three and eighteen lives could be saved by each execution of a guilty killer. (Anderson)” Experts who support the abolishment of the death penalty say otherwise. “...Collaborators recently compared murder rates in Hong Kong, where capital punishment was abolished in 1993, and Singapore, where a death sentence is mandatory for murder and other crimes and is typically administered within a year and a half. Researchers found little difference between the two… (Ehrenfreund)” Therefore, executing a prisoner does not save any lives. People will continue to commit crimes regardless if capital punishment is enforced or