should death penitently stay

I've heard this argument many times before and I understand the sentiment that it is unfair if someone takes a life, they will live. I understand completely. As you put it, "those who kill innocent people should pay for it with their own lives." Now before I present my argument, let me be clear that I am not in any way excusing or condoning murder. I believe in justice, order, law, and fairness. Murderers should serve their time. Also, you said in your answer that "Taxpayers should not have to pay for a killer to spend the rest of their lives not working, watching cable TV, and working out." Just as a side note: while we are talking about your answer, I think you should learn how to spell "death penalty" in the question Are you saying that prisoners "watch cable TV and work out"? If so, who told you that?? That's not what happens at all! Prisoners, especially murderers, must and will serve the punishment that is right for them. If you're not convinced yet, don't take it from me. Take it from the rest of America! According to a 2010 poll from Lake Research Partners, 61% of American voters are against the death penalty. However, it is immoral to decide that someone needs to die. Yes, I understand that the murderer decided that someone needs to die, but hear me out. Those people who die on death row are fellow human beings. Let that sink in for a second. They're people, just like you and me. They're not monsters. They're not Freddy Krueger, and they're not Michael Myers. They're not Pennywise. THEY ARE PEOPLE. No one, and I mean NO ONE (whether or not they're in the government) has the right to take a life. The murderer never had that right originally, but just because he abused that right doesn't mean that someone should abuse that right towards him. Have you ever heard of the saying "two rights don't make a wrong"? Well, that fits perfectly for this situation! According to DeathPenaltyInfo.org, a black person is three times as likely to be put to execution as a white person for a similar case. (Prof. K. Beckett, Univ. of Washington, 2014) A study in California found that murder cases involving white victims are 3 times as likely to result in execution when compared to murders involving black victims. That same study found that murder cases involving white victims are four times as likely to result in execution when compared to cases involving Latino victims. So basically, the philosophy here seems to be that killers have to pay for their crimes with their lives.... unless of course the victim was a minority! DeathPenaltyInfo.org also said that "In 96% of states where there have been reviews of race and the death penalty, there was a pattern of either race-of-victim or race-of-defendant discrimination, or both. (Prof. Baldus report to the ABA, 1998)" The death penalty system is racist. That's all there is to it. Since 1973, more than 155 people have been released from death row because evidence was discovered that exonerated them (Staff Report, House Judiciary Subcommittee on Civil & Constitutional Rights, 1993, with updates by DPIC). From 1973-1999, there was an average of 3 exonerated prisoners per year. From 2000-2011, there was an average of 5 exonerated prisoners per year. A lot of death row prisoners are exonerated. A LOT. So clearly, it was mistake putting those 155 people on death row. So what happens when an innocent is put on death row and then evidence isn't found to clear before the execution??? Then they're dead. And that's it. They're dead. Great. Now think about the logic of the death penalty. If someone kills someone else, I'm going to make it better by killing that person. How does that make sense? It is legitimizing the very thing it's supposed to prevent! What kind of message does that send? I'll tell you what kind of message it sends. A barbaric, dictatorial message. It sends the message that if you mess up, you're going to die, especially if you're a minority. If someone had a repeat history of armed robbery with a deadly weapon, would you want to cut off their hands? If your spouse or significant other cheated on you, would you want them to be stoned? No, of course not! That would be insane. So then why is it okay to kill someone just because they killed? As the wise Nelson Mandela once said, "An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind."