Resolved: The United States should abolish the death penalty.

Good day, Ladies and Gentlemen. In this case, I will prove to you why the United States should abolish the death penalty. I thank my (possible) opponent for accepting this debate, and I ask that the voters vote based on the arguments presented. Any RFD's would be apprieciated. The resolution is pretty straight-forward, so I will get right down to my case. CONTENTION I: Capital Punishment does not deter crime. There have been numerous studies that indicate that the death penalty does not deter crime. Take this (. http://www.nodeathpenaltywi.org...) Some key figures in this are: • The murder rate in Canada has dropped by 27% since the death penalty was abolished in that country in 1976. • A New York Times survey demonstrated that the homicide rate in states with capital punishment have been 48% to 101% higher than those without the death penalty. 84% of current and former presidents of the country's top academic criminological societies reject the notion that research shows any deterrent effect from the death penalty. Also, take a moment to look at this from the American Civil Liberties Union (. http://www.aclu.org...) There is a stricking similarity between the number of executions and the number of homicides- most times the number of executions go up, the National Murder Rate goes along with it. I'd also like to add that most people that are desperate enough to kill someone are not thinking about the consequences. Furthermore, they are going to do anything to kill that person. It will never change, no matter what punishment they have. Clearly, through numerous studies, we can see that the death penalty does not deter crime. CONTENTION II: Life in Prison is cheaper than the death penalty. When a person is convicted and sentenced to their death, it takes 10-20 years to actually put them to death. This can cause great costs. Also, in order for it to be quicker, judges must make consistent decisions, which they do NOT do. (. http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org...) Key facts: -Death penalty trials cost an average of 48% more than the average cost of trials in which prosecutors seek life imprisonment. -The trial costs for death cases were about 16 times greater than for non-death cases ($508,000 for death case; $32,000 for non-death case). -Total cost of Indiana's death penalty is 38% greater than the total cost of life without parole sentences -Florida would save $51 million each year by punishing all first-degree murderers with life in prison without parole -North Carolina Spends More per Execution than on a Non-death Penalty Murder Case There are several other statistics here: (. http://www.mindspring.com...) This one gives more staggering statistics, basically confirming that the death penalty costs more. CONTENTION III: Death penalty is wrong. I'm going to split this one up into three arguments. A. The eighth amendment to the United States constitution states that judges may not make cruel and unusual punishments. The death penalty is exactly that. There is no humane way to kill someone. The quickest and eaiest way to kill someone would be a shot to the head, but that would destroy the body. Most states now prefer lethal injection. What most people don't realize is that you don't instantly die with lethal injection. Your body starts to become paralyzed, from the feet up, after about 20 seconds. After about a minute or two, your body develops reactions. You start bleeding out of any place you can, you start drooling perfiously, and your body shakes rapidly. After about 3 minutes it stops, and your dead. It is an extremly cruel way to die. B. The idea of capital puishment is contridictary. The reason people want the death penalty is because killing is bad. So, why do we kill them? What kind of message is this sending? If we want to stop killing, we should not kill. It is also barbaric and quite a pre-historic thing to do. Society will accept these people's lives as long as they are not on the streets. That can be solved by life in prison. C. The death penalty is unfair. It has been known to discrimate against African Americans and the poor (. http://www.aclu.org...). This is because the judge decides who gets it and who doesn't. This leaves a judge's bias to decide the fate of a man. Going along with that, many innocent people are found guilty and sentenced to their deaths. Say a person in 1990 is found guilty and sentenced to death. With today's technology, that man could be found innocent due to new evidence. But wait! We just executed him last weekend. Whoopsies! Anyway, the point I'm getting at is that Capital Punishment is irreversable. If new evidence is brought to court, that person can never be set free. That's completly unfair.