+2
Against it.
1) It sends a terrible message. The whole "an-for-an-eye" approach doesn't help anyone. It's a conventional, out-dated mindset; why should it take killing those who have killed in order to demonstrate that killing is wrong? Doesn't make sense to me.
2) Capital punishment costs taxpayers 2 to 5 times more money than keeping a person in prison for life.
3) Capital punishment does not deter crime.
4) It's a cruel death lottery. Approximately 22,000 homicides are committed each year in the U.S., and of those only 150 are sentenced to death. The crime itself doesn't seem to matter; the death penalty ruling more or less depends on the jurisdiction and the quality of legal counsel. The punishment is not guaranteed to fit the crime.
5) Accidental execution. 130 death row inmates have been found innocent since 1973. In Texas, for example, the average number of executions per exoneration since 1976 is 45. The chances of being exonerated are extremely slim, and most of the time exoneration is the result of prior testimony being deemed illigitimate or someone coming forward to confess to the crime. In the case of Troy Davis, even though there was no physical or DNA evidence to convict, he could not even be exonerated.
It's a failing system that makes no sense. In order to advance as a society, we need to abolish this medieval mindset and instead practice a more sensible solution.
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