The Death Penalty

The death penalty originated in the early 1800s. The primary way of executing a person at that time was the act of hanging them. The death penalty has evolved since than with the way of executing a person now being lethal injection [prodeathpenalty].The death penalty is wrong, unjust, and unnecessary in today’s society, it should be abolished. Although some people argue that the death penalty gives people who commit inconceivable crimes the right punishment, the death penalty teaches nothing and commits the same crime that we’re punishing other people for.

Opponents of the abolishment of the death penalty states that if one takes another persons life than he should be given the same fate as that person, sending a message to the youth and other people not commit murder [thedeathpenalty]. It shows that inconceivable crimes will not be tolerated under any circumstances and that you should turn to other resources before you turn to taking people’s lives. Others such as deathpenaltycurriculum.org claim that without the death penalty vicious crimes would go about with no fear whatsoever, people would start having the mindset that no matter what they do they can’t be killed for it. Statistics show that in 20 countries including Arkansas and Pennsylvania, which have abolished the death penalty, crime rates rose rapidly and skyrocketed. Leading to the conclusion that the death penalty keeps people safe from harmful people who cause danger to the economy [deathpenaltycurriculum].

One main point that the opposition has is the results of not having the death penalty. It shows that without the death penalty people have the mindset that no matter what they do they can’t be killed for it. They can go out and rape a girl and kill her parents and get prison for life. It shows that people aren’t scared of what can happen to them now with crime rates skyrocketing. They’re guaranteed life.

People who want the death penalty abolished, such as myself, argue that the death penalty doesn’t teach anyone anything and commits the same crime that we’re telling other people not to do. Instead of trying to help that person we put him to sleep. Why take another man’s life when we’re trying to teach society that that’s what we don’t want to do, Gandhi once said “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind” relating to the fact that just because a person took one’s life doesn’t mean that the same should be entitled to him. That doesn’t fix the problem it only makes it worse.[deathpenaltyinfo.org]. The system is also taking away unalienable rights guaranteed by the constitution which state that each person has the right to LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The death penalty not only hurts people but it also hurts the economy. Also it’s very unfair that people who commit manslaughter on several occasions get as little as a year and a half in prison while other people receive death. It also shows that DNA testing has proven to be false time and time again with people waiting up to 50 years in prison for something they were innocent for [amnestyusa.org]. Imagine 50 years of your life wasted for something you didn’t do!

The death penalty should be abolished. Its systematic structure proves to be inevitable and ineffective. It violates the rights of the constitution taking away unalienable rights. It does things that it tells other people not to do, that’s like a person shooting a gun in front of you and telling you to never shoot a gun. It’s a terrible punishment and should not exist.