The Death Penalty is Flawed and Must Be Abolished

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Throughout much of America’s history there has been conflicting thoughts on the matter of taking the life of another in the pursuit of justice. Many have said it is inhumane, wrong, and hypocritical. Others claim it to be justifiable, with roots in Biblical scripture: "an-eye-for-an-eye". The guillotine, electric chair, and lethal injection have one goal, that is to kill its subject. Today, we face the choice to continue or abolish the death penalty. The general consensus hitherto has always been in favor for the death penalty. The opposing view, however, does not fall far behind. This is understandable because there are so many aspects that are considered when being in favor or against the death penalty. These include concerns on morality, cost, constitutionality, deterrence, retribution, arbitrariness and so on. The list is endless. The death penalty, although efficient in its final purpose, is not as efficient in saving money, deterring crime, and worst of all, choosing its victims. Now, it may seem crude to take into account some of these aspects as if the life of another human is negotiable, but many of these issues are amongst the reasons on why many choose to be for or against the death penalty, so addressing them only seems reasonable.

First of all, a stance that plenty of people like to take is that the death penalty should be imposed on individuals in order to scare off prospective criminals. Now this on the surface may sound reasonable, and it would not be ridiculous to think it a viable method; however, this is not the case. There is no sounds evidence to show that the death penalty deters crime. The issue has been brought to light by Michael Booth, from the Denver Post, who explained that “...a consensus of crim...

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...//www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/images/exo_state.png. DPIC, n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2014.

Booth, Michael. "No Credible Evidence on Whether Death Penalty Deters, Experts Say." Denverpost.com. N.p., June-July 2014. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

"Costs of the Death Penalty." Death Penalty Information Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.

Ehrhard, Susan. "Plea Bargaining and the Death Penalty: An Exploratory Study." Justice System Journal 29.3 (2008): 1-13. Web.

Pie Chart shows disproportion between cases that include whites v. other races. Digital image. Http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/arbitrariness#Race. DPIC, n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.

ProCon.org. "Top 10 Pros and Cons." ProCon.org. 13 Apr. 2009. Web. 27 Nov. 2014.

Streib, Victor. Death Penalty for Female Offenders, January 1, 1973, Through October 31, 2010. Diss. Ohio Northern University, 2010. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2014.

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