The Death Penalty The United States should not have the death penalty. The death penalty causes trauma to the family of those who are on death row. There are possibilities that people put on death row could be innocent. There is also a cost to killing. Thirty one states have the death penalty as of July 1, 2015. As of January 1, 2016 2,943 people were on death row. Eighteen DNA samples of the people that have been put on death row have saved those people. People who are for the death penalty may say that it should be enforced because it is only fair to the victims of the crime. Other people who are against the death penalty would say innocent people would get killed. Since 1973, more than 150 people have been released from death row