Pros And Cons Of The Death Penalty

The death penalty is quite a controversial issue. Should you kill someone because someone killed someone else? Does a wrong and a wrong make a right? It is it a fair way to punish murderers? Well, in my opinion, it isn’t. The death penalty is racially biased, ignores and neglects the mentally ill, and is not even a deterrent, all reasons to get rid of it. Capital punishment has been in the United States from the birth of the country to 1972, and from 1976 to the present. The United States is the only Western country that uses the death penalty. As of 2010, 33% of murderers get the Death Penalty. 19 States don’t use the death penalty. That fact, brings me to my first argument. First, the death penalty does not even prevent people from commiting

Unfortunately, that’s not true. In fact, in the case of capital punishment, it’s racially biased. Since 1977, 77% of people on Death Row have been killed for killing white people, despite the fact that people of color make up 50% of homicide victims. Not only that, but obvious racism is seen quite often in courthouses. The following quote was a by a trial judge in the case Peek v. State: “Since the (n-word) mom and dad are here anyway, why don't we go ahead and do the penalty phase today instead of having to subpoena them back at cost to the state."

“Using conservative rough projections, the Commission estimates the annual costs of the present system ($137 million per year), the present system after implementation of the reforms … ($232.7 million per year) … and a system which imposes a maximum penalty of lifetime incarceration instead of the death penalty ($11.5 million).” ( California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, July 1, 2008 - https://www.amnestyusa.org/issues/death-penalty/death-penalty-facts/death-penalty-cost/ ) The money the Government is using is coming from our tax money. It’s no different in Washington. “Washington has carried out five executions since reinstatement, implying a cost of $24 million per execution.” ( https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/WashingtonCosts.pdf ) Some people in support of the death penalty state that if you take a life, your life deserves to be taken. No one's life deserves to be taken, no matter what crimes they committed. It’s in the Constitution. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ——” The right to Life. No matter what someone did, we can’t take that away. They are “unalienable”