The Death Penalty should be abolished

As my opponent did not take advantage of the third round, I will keep my response here short. I believe I have made my argument relatively clear, and have done so without resorting to the use of mass fallacies. The death penalty is not something that should be taken lightly; and it never is. This is why there are so many opportunities for appeal, however, despite the fact that the appeals do exist, if the person is still found guilty, after numerous juries have sentenced him or her to death it is obvious that he or she should be given the sentence that any number of his or her peers have condemned him to. This is not cruel or unusual. The death penalty exists as a way of almost painlessly ending the life of a heinous criminal. Statistically people who have committed such felonies are not going to be able to readjust to society after their incarceration. With regards to my opponents opening statements. The death penalty is not murder, murder is acting outside the law and intentionally causing the wrongful death of another. People are afraid of dying, in fact, it is number two on the list of what most people are afraid of. Killing the offender is a form of making criminals pay for their crime. In some cases a more humane way than what they would face in prison. Child rapists for instance may be raped an beaten in our prison systems; something one may call torture. The death penalty is used only against those who have committed heinous crimes. Whether or not the person is of low class, or minority, is irrelavent to this debate. Such a topic should be brought up in another debate as problems in the justice system, not in this part of the justice system where the decisions have already been made, and guilt assigned. To say that the death penalty is used "arbitrarily and inconsistently" is a lie. It is used only in specific circumstances, and if there is any inconsistency in when it is used that is for two reasons. 1: plea bargaining, which allows the justice system to maintain its promise of a speedy trial. 2: the different standards that are held by the states for the requirements of the death penalty. However, such differences are desirable because they mean that each state is allowed self-governance guaranteed to it by the constitution. While some innocent people have been wrongly sentenced to death, these instances are in the minority, and it is a minority that is growing increasingly small with the advent of DNA analysis and forensic evidence. No program is perfect, and as such it should simply be watched, modified, and perfected, not done away with. This is a Perfection fallacy. Financial costs can be mainly chalked up to court costs, which as I have demonstrated before, can take place in many major criminal trials. As outlined before, speedy trials are still in place for both regular criminals, and those who are facing capital punishment. Their rights are not hampered. And as capital cases are in the minority it is ludicrous to assume they are the main cause of a lagging judicial system. My Hammurabi's code statement was never refuted. The way the government ends life is different from the way a murderer ends life. The government's way is humane, quick, and essentially painless - a murderer's way is painful both psychologically, and physically and is done without any compassion or fairness Ask any European or person from around the world what they think the number one (or hell go up to 10) thing America is doing wrong is, and the Death Penalty will not be on that list. Our foreign policy, and the way we treat other countries is what they are worried about. While the prisoner's family may suffer, that family has no one to blame but the prisoner. The suffering of the victims family is what should be concentrated on, for neither they, nor the victim did anything to bring that suffering upon themselves. My opponent is trying to use a Pity fallacy here, where little pity should be found. I apologize for making this longer than I had originally intended. I hope anyone who is watching this debate has enjoyed it. As this has been my first debate on this website I welcome and encourage discussion, suggestions, and any input you feel like giving. While I was displeased with the fact that my opponent felt that he had to use fallacies, and accuse me of saying or feeling certain ways, I wish him all the best and hope that this discussion may have caused him, or anyone reading it to rethink their positions. Additionally, please do not simply vote the way your beliefs go, be it for or against my own position, but rather simply vote for the argument you feel was the strongest. The death penalty is a touchy subject, and quite frankly I wish there was no need for it. However, so long as there are murderers, violent child-rapists and the like, the death penalty shall continue to have a place in society. Once again, thank everyone who has taken time from their schedules to read and vote on this debate, and I look forward to future discussions with some of you. And though it feels terribly out of place in such a debate to say this: Happy Holidays to All!