These 38 states have made the death penalty mandatory for specified crimes. In addition to the striking statistics dealing with discrimination of the recipients of the death penalty, there are several other vital reasons for abolishing the ancient practice of Capital Punishment. There is first of all the whole reasoning for why the death penalty is practiced. The idea has been refuted through psychological investigation that the death penalty is not a crime deterrent. Murderers have been shown to not weigh the consequences of their actions before they commit such a serious offense.
Homicide is usually a crime committed by mentally unstable people.
Therefore it does not serve its intentional purpose. Advocates for it may then say that it is just punishment for the felon's heinous crime. Yet this too is an invalid reason when this idea is carefully examined. Nowhere in the constitution does it state that we, the citizens, have the right to decide on a person's right to life. When the victim's families are asked if they feel better and have more closure in their lives after the criminal has been put to death, often times they have responded by saying they feel worse.