The death penalty should be abolished

I apologise to my opponent, for my mistake in following the debate structure, and am grateful for being allowed to continue in this debate. I will now present my arguments,Rebuttals1) The death penalty is used to serve justice."In 1991, a young mother was rendered helpless and made to watch as her baby was executed. The mother was then mutilated and killed. The killer should not lie in some prison with three meals a day, clean sheets, cable TV, family visits and endless appeals. For justice to prevail, some killers just need to die."[1]The death penalty is a way to serve justice, to the criminals who have wronged and without it the criminals are being rewarded with the privelege to live. Those who face the death penalty have no right to live on our moral civilised planet, and though my contender may argue that it "is a form of hypocrisy", it is by no means this. Those killed by the death penalty are; humanely executed (Choice between needle, firing squad, hanging etc.), whereas those killed by these criminals are brutally slaughtered, raped, abused, and tortured mercilessly, and the one final difference between those killed by the death penalty and murderers are that they are guilty and innocent respectively.2) The death penalty provides closure to the families or loved ones of the victim."The study itself does not advocate for the death penalty or for LWOP, but it does reference a key reason often given in support of the death penalty by Americans"that, as a form of retribution, it succeeds in bringing satisfaction and closure to murder victims" families. In other words, it helps them heal"[2]The following is quote, taken from an article detailing a study led by University of Minnesota alum and former adjunct professor Marilyn Peterson Armour and Mark Umbreit, professor and director of the Center for Restorative Justice and Peacemaking in the School of Social Work at the University of Minnesota.The study was conducted to explore the effects the death penalty had on the families of the victim, and proved that it did indeed help the families going through the struggle of losing a loved one. Rather than be concerned about the 'price' or 'execution methods', we should as a community be more concerned about the families and friends of the victims, as they are the ones that are the most heavily affected by the situation, and in order to get them back on track, it is only logical to rid of the scum that brought the suffering upon them. The death penalty may not be the most convenient consequence to protract, but is the most humane thing that we as a society can do to help those who suffer due to a criminal's actions.3) Those who break the laws know the consequences"On the evening of June 17 of this year, white supremacist Dylann Roof, after sitting in a black church for about an hour, pulled out a Glock .41 handgun with hollow-point bullets and murdered nine black people who had been in a prayer and Bible study group. No sane person doubts either that he did it, that he knew what he was doing, that he thought about his actions, or that the motive was anything other than racial hate."[3]The death penalty is not a punishment sprung upon innocent people who had no idea about the laws. Those who murder or rape must know that what they are doing is indeed illegal and their acts will be shamed upon. Pro, you cannot argue that a murderer was unaware that the act of physically ending a persons life is in at least in some instance wrong, or that a rapist was oblivious that the act of engaging in sexual intercourse with someone against their will was at least in some manner inappropriate. Those who commit these sorts of extreme crimes know what they are getting into, and if by some chance they do not know that these actions are punishable by death, then that is their own problem.I once again apologise for my error in following the debate structure. I hope that I have not made any errors in this round.Sources[1]http://deathpenaltycurriculum.org...[2]http://discover.umn.edu...[3]http://www.crimeandconsequences.com...