The death penalty in the United States has been a controversial issue for many years now. The question if the death penalty is an effective deterrent will never not be a societal problem. This has not only caused arguments between people who support and people who don’t support capital punishment, but also with the government, constitutional rights, economy and happiness of the citizens.
One of the main concerns with allowing the death penalty was how to execute. “Methods of execution that the early Americans relied on, such as hanging and the firing squad, were displaced by drugs and other technological advancements.” (Hollander 2015). People who oppose the death penalty viewed capital punishment as inhumane. As it was not only inhuman, but irreversible. “Since 1973, more than 155 people have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence.” (DPIC 2017). Supporters of the death penalty say that the criminal on the stand is still up there for a reason and is given a jury, trial, and a judge two times.
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“...[Police] claim that it ensures that convicted criminals do not offend again and delivers a just penalty for atrocious crimes such as child murders, serial killings, or torture murders.” (Tibbs 2015). Some people question whether this is really solving the problem or just making the situation worse. According to a 2008 survey, 88.2% of people said it is not effective, 5.3% said it is, and the other 6.6% had no opinion (Radelet 2009). As stated by a poll from 2008, 88% of criminologists rejected that the death penalty acts as a deterrent to murder (Radelet 2009). The 2014 FBI Uniform Crime Report showed that the South had the highest murder rate and accounts for over 80% of executions. The Northeast, which has less than 1% of all executions, had lowest murder rate (DPIC