Pros And Cons Of The Death Penalty

The death penalty has been a method of punishment since ancient times. Stoning a criminal regardless of their crime was common and death was often a result. In today’s society, the death penalty should be reserved for offenders who commit severe violent crimes. There is a fine difference between killing and murdering, therefore, the death penalty is a respectable punishment for those who have committed senseless and heinous crimes such as murder When criminals senselessly murder or commit other heinous crimes, the criminal should be rightly served with the proper punishment of the death penalty. The heinous crime ignorantly destroys the lives of innocent civilians. In ancient times, extreme punishment was used as a deterrent for future criminals,

Many people propose death row as a more humane way for inmates to serve time for their crimes as they are can not simply escape their impending death. In reality, death row costs taxpayers about 90,000 dollars a year (Death Penalty Information Center) and due to appeals and daily living costs, death row is not less expensive alternative to the death penalty and lethal injection (Pro-Con headlines). Another anti-death penalty argument is that the death penalty is inhumane, puts general citizens at the same level as murders and goes against the direct orders of God. However, there is a definitive difference between killing and murder. Killing is “to deprive of life,” whereas murder is “the crime of unlawfully killing a person especially with malice.” There is a clear difference between the actions of the state and that of the convicted, as the goal of the death penalty is not to brutally end a person's life, but simply to end it. Additionally, people against the death penalty respect some families choice to offer clemency and forgiveness to the murder who have taken the life of their innocent family member. For example, in the case of Ronald Lott who raped and killed two elderly woman, the son of one of the women wanted Lott to have clemency, his reason being, "I don't want to kill him. I want to put him through as much hell as I had. I want him to experience every ugly day that prison has to offer," said Fowler. "No. I don't want him put to sleep. I want him to be an old man. The longer the better.” (Victim’s son wants clemency for death row inmate) However, not all families feel this way, which is why the death penalty provides more closure and reassurance. In 1978, Darrell Keith Rich violently and sexually assaulted nine women and young girls, leaving two bodies in a dump. The families of the victims said, “‘We've all had 22 years of