A prisoner sits alone in a tiny gray cell in Raleigh’s Central Prison. In just a few hours, he will die as the state of North Carolina takes his life as punishment for murder. Each time a prisoner dies in this manner, it raises compelling questions, which our society must answer. Is capital punishment fair? Is it applied equally to all segments of society? Does it truly serve to discourage violent crimes? The answer to all of their questions is a resounding “NO.” Capital punishment should be abolished in the United States. It has too often been applied to innocent victims, it is used against minorities and the poor far too much, and it is not an effective deterrent against future crimes.

In North Carolina there are about 250 people added to death row each year and 35 executed. The death penalty is the harshest form of punishment enforced in the United States today. People today have been put on death row, because they committed a crime that was so severe the jury sentenced them. Sometimes the jury can sentence people that are innocent. The evidence was not shown in court so they are going to die for something they did not commit. North Carolina’s Death Row is one of th

One death row inmate is found innocent for every seven that are executed; no one knows how many innocent people may have been executed. Additionally, the death penalty is no deterrent to crime. In fact, the average murder rate is almost twice as high in states that have the death penalty as compared to states that don't have the death penalty. If capital punishment were carried out more it would prove to be the crime deterrent it was partly intended. Most criminals would think twice before committing murder if they knew their own lives was at stake. As it turns out though very few people are executed and so the death penalty is not a satisfactory deterrent. “Executions maximize public safety through a form of incapacitation and deterrence.” (Spinler). Use of the death penalty as intended by law could actually reduce the number of violent murders by eliminating some of the repeat offenders though being used as a system of justice, not just a method of deterrence. “During the last 20 years, the homicide rate in states with the death penalty has been 48 percent to 101 percent higher than in states without the death penalty.” (New York Times) FBI data showed that 10 of the 12 states without capital punishment have homicide rates below the national average. If people are thinking of committing murder and are aware that they will be released because of early parole, then it will not effectively deter any future crimes from happening. There is other evidence, which refutes the effectiveness of capital punishment as a deterrent. During the 1930's the federal government, under the direction of Jack Gibbs, investigated the effectiveness of the death penalty in deterring serious crime. The conclusion of Gibb's investigation is that capital punishment did not deter. Why does anybody commit a crime? The reasons are unknown, but there have been many speculations as to why people do the things they do. Some have said it is the fault of the individual, while others speculate blame falls on the side of society. In either case, something needs to be done in order to deter criminals from committing some of these heinous crimes. "The dilemma surrounding capital punishment is complex and necessitates further study. Numerous studies have been conducted to determine the validity of capital punishment. The debate has also focused upon whether or not the offender should be rehabilitated, or if the only means of deterrence is through death." (Armenta). People belief that there is no need for capital punishment in our society. Advocates say that capital punishment is needed in order to deter future criminals, but this is not entirely the case. Research has shown that capital punishment, as a deterrent, has no positive or negative effect. An influential student of the deterrence question, Thorsten Sellin, conducted a study that would attempt to determine the effect of capital punishment on future crime. He studied the homicide rates in contiguous states, some with and some without the death penalty, on the assumption that these states we

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