Should The Death Penalty Be Allowed?

When I first heard of the death penalty, I must say that I was all for it. I thought the criminals that have committed murders were getting what they deserved and that it also helped other criminals stay off the streets. However, as I grew older, my opinion started to change while I started receiving more of the facts about the death penalty. I found myself standing on the opposite end of the line, and opposing the death penalty.

 Should the death penalty be allowed? Do we have the right to decide whether a person deserves to live or die? Over one thousand people have been executed in the US since 1977 by means of lethal injection. The majority of death penalties involve putting down murderers, however capital punishment can also be applied for other actions such as treason and espionage. People who are in support of the death penalty believe that the death penalty is a good way to get rid of criminals and that it cost a lot for tax payers to keep criminals in prison. However, those who oppose the death penalty argue that it cost a lot more of the taxpayers to money to execute someone through lethal injection than just keeping criminals in prison. A study held in 2011 found that the state of California has spent over  $4 million on capital punishment since the penalty was reinstated in 1978. The trials held for death penalty are also a lot more expensive than the trials seeking a life sentence. Sentencing someone to life in prison without the possibility of parole is a lot cheaper and also saves the taxpayer a lot of money. Currently, California spends around $184 million a year.

There has also been a history of wrongful executions. Some people have been wrongly convicted in the past, thus killing off innocent people. In California, seven people who were sentenced life in prison without the possibility of parole were later released after they were able to prove their innocence. Not only does life in prison help criminals stay off the streets, it also allows the wrongfully accused have more time to prove their innocence.

The reason this topic is important is because we are dealing with other people’s lives here. Not only that, this also has a great affect on us, since we are the paying money for this.

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