Death Penalty

Thank you posting your argument quickly. For the sake of clarity, I offer some definitions. Death penalty – Capital Punishment; putting one to death for crimes that one has committed. Justified - to prove or show to be just, right, or reasonable [1] Should - used in auxiliary function to express obligation, propriety, or expediency [2] Justice - the establishment or determination of rights according to the rules of law [3] ***** First I will address your points, then continue to my own. Your first argument is that "justice must be served". However, who's standard of justice are you speaking of? Not the standard of the 29% of Americans who are against the death penalty. [4] That may seem like a relatively small number, but when you do the math, that is an estimated 90,519,935 Americans that do not support capital punishment. You then claim that the death penalty works as deterrent. While your logic makes sense when applied to average people, Murderers, (serial killers in particular) often have Antisocial Personality Disorder. (Also known as psychopaths) [5] These people do not subscribe to social norms, and they do not ‘gel' with society. They are in a class all their own. By the time they commit a murder, they will most likely have decided that the thrill (or whatever pleasure they get) from the kill is more important than their lives. Your final argument is that the death penalty saves the lives of innocent people because "that in the U.S. 1.2% of offenders who committed murder were arrested within 3 years of being released because they murdered another person" , but you never say how many people this actually is. ***** Now I have two main points as to why the death penalty should be repealed. First "The cost of killing killers is killing us." (Ed Barnes)[6] This article goes on to say that a death-penalty trial costs $1 million more than one in which prosecutors seek life without parole. Furthermore, an Urban Institute study of Maryland's experience with the death penalty found that since 1978, the cost to taxpayers for the five executions the state carried out was $37.2 million dollars — each. This comes out to 186 million dollars. The Death Penalty Information Center [7] states that "It is much cheaper to put these people in prison and leave them there until they die." Better yet, when these people are put in prison, they should be put to work. They once were a detriment to society; they should do some good before they leave this world. Prison is essentially a free ride; one gets clean clothes, hot food, and a bed to sleep in at the expense of the general population. Sending prisoners to work may offset the costs of keeping them imprisoned, and the money spent by the public defending them. My second point is hundreds of years old. 235 years old to be exact. Our great country has what is called the Declaration of Independence, which not only turned us into America, but guaranteed "Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness" [8]. Life is the most basic of human rights. To take the life of even a murderer, puts one on that same level, and makes one a murderer themselves. In conclusion, because the death penalty is not necessarily a deterrent to criminals, and because capital punishment is expensive, and because taking the lives of murderers makes America's justice system hypocritical, I urge you to please vote CON! ***** Sources: [1] http://www.merriam-webster.com... [2] http://www.merriam-webster.com... [3] http://www.merriam-webster.com... [4] http://www.gallup.com... [5] http://people.howstuffworks.com... [6] : http://www.foxnews.com... [7] http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org... [8] http://www.earlyamerica.com...