Death Penalty

In response to Pro"s argument, I will present two main points that will potentially negate the idea that the death penalty should be legal. First I will talk of the death penalty"s effectiveness and lastly my main opinion on why we should get rid of the death penalty all together. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First off, I will address the common argument for supporting the death penalty. Some people tend to believe that the death penalty is effective in lowering crime rates, but I will prove why this is wrong. Although crime rates overall have been decreasing, it has no concrete relation to the use of the death penalty. According to FBI statistics from 2012 to 2013, the number of violent crimes had decreased by 4.4 percent (1). While this is an amazing thing for our country, the crime rates have decreased everywhere, even in states without the death penalty. Graph-> http://s3.amazonaws.com... (I am not sure if this link will show up since my others didn't, but it just shows the 15 states without the death penalty, and the 35 states with it). This map of the U.S. shows us that a large majority of the states have legalized the death penalty. So, according to many peoples" arguments, these states should have lower crime rates, right? This isn't so. According to an article in the Huffington Post based on statistics gathered from the FBI, 8 of the top 10 most dangerous states in the U.S. are all states that have legalized the death penalty, with the highest being Tennessee at an average of 643.6 violent crimes per 100,000 people (2). Also, according to another article, the top 2 safest states in the U.S. are both states without the death penalty (3). Now let"s look take a look at crime rates in other countries without the death penalty as well, more specifically, our neighbor Canada. When looking at the comparison of crime rates between Canada and the U.S., a startling thing jumps out at you, Canada"s crime rates are significantly lower. The United States" crime levels are 43% higher, the murder rate is 23 times more, the rape rate is 16 times more, and so on (4). While this doesn't truly prove that having no death penalty is more effective, it does negate the need for a death penalty at all. So, if the death penalty isn't helping lower crime rates (by scaring people into refraining from violent acts), then why do most people believe it should be allowed? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The question above takes me into my next point. The reason some people believe it should be allowed is for the simple fact that they hate the criminal for what he/she has done. And they wish to obtain revenge. Although this person has killed or raped/molested another human, that should not condone giving them a death sentence. Killing this human being will not bring back the person that they killed. It will not right their wrong. How, in any way, are we teaching people that murder is wrong if we turn around and do it ourselves? More often than not, life in prison is even worse for a criminal. If we restrict what criminals of capital crimes can do within a prison to working, sleeping, and eating (no Internet for criminals of capital crimes like many prisons have today), we may be able to work on crime like murder without losing our humanity. Also, like my opponent stated before, there are some cases where a criminal was actually found to be innocent after being put to death. Faults like these can be avoided if the death penalty wasn't legal. Likewise, if we get rid of the death penalty, our country will save money as well because cases involving the death penalty are often around twice as much money than cases involving a life-sentence in prison (5). The country must take action with supporting humane ways to deal with criminals of capital offense and must implement counseling for all criminals. We should also encourage classes in high schools across the country to bring awareness to crimes such as murder and rape, and why these crimes should not be committed. We need to bring awareness to these actions, especially since they are seen as socially unacceptable to talk about, so most kids will grow up to be mindful of how serious these crimes are. Instead of going blind to our wrath and using the death penalty, our country must work together to lower crime rates (granted there will ALWAYS be crime) without being hypocrites and condoning the killing of criminals of capital punishment. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In conclusion, the death penalty should be illegal because it doesn't decrease the rate of crimes, and killing criminals out of anger (and a want for revenge) will not support the idea that murdering is wrong, due to the hypocrisy behind the idea. Back to you, Pro :) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1)"Decrease in Violent Crimes and Property Crimes." FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, 10 Nov. 2014. Web. 20 Feb. 2015. http://www.fbi.gov... (2)McCormack, Simon. "America's Most Dangerous States, Based On Law Street's Analysis Of FBI Crime Statistics." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 3 Aug. 2014. Web. 22 Feb. 2015. http://www.huffingtonpost.com... (3)Frohlich, Thomas C., and Alexander Kent. "The Safest States In America." 24/7 Wall Street. 2 Jan. 2015. Web. 22 Feb. 2015. http://247wallst.com... (4)"Canada vs United States Crime Stats Compared." NationMaster.com. Nation Master. Web. 20 Feb. 2015. http://www.nationmaster.com... (5)"Costs of the Death Penalty." Costs of the Death Penalty. Death Penalty Information Center, 2015. Web. 11 Feb. 2015. http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org... *Hopefully my links will show up this time, but I cited my sources just in case