If this man were to be put to death, it would not deter other criminals from killing. According to James McCloskey, writer of “The Death Penalty: A personal View”, the death penalty is a failure as a deterrent, because those who commit crimes that deserve the death penalty are often so irrational that even the prospect of death doesn’t deter them. The death penalty is an ineffective deterrent, is more expensive than a life sentence, is inhumane, and defies the United States Constitution.

Seventy percent of Americans favor the death penalty, according to an October, 2002 Gallup poll. One reason for this is that they believe that by killing a criminal, justice will be served. Granted, retribution can give family and friends of the victim a feeling of satisfaction for what was done to them. Retribution can also give them some closure so that they can put the horror of a crime behind them. For some victims’ families, knowing that

a killer is still alive would not allow them to move on with their lives. It is true that murderers serving a life sentences have murdered again. In states with no death penalty, prisoners have murdered prison guards and other prisoners. If you are dead you cannot kill anyone.

The belief that execution costs less than imprisonment is false. A study by Iowa’s Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates the price of executing a prisoner, after appeals, at about $1 million more than keeping them imprisoned for life, including food, clothing, shelter and healthcare. This is money that cuts into resources for other community interests, such as schools, hospitals, public safety and jobs. In New York the death penalty was brought back even though it was estimated to cost $118 million annually. During the same year, state leaders had to make dramatic cuts in funding for public higher education and health care.

The death penalty should be abolished because it is a cruel form of punishment. It is considered barbaric by every western industrialized country except for the U.S. It should not be allowed in the United States, which is supposed to be on of the most civil nations in the worl

Some topics in this essay:
Eight Amendment’s, Constitution Seventy, Fiscal Bureau, Mark Heath, Public Advocacy, Death Penalty, Spring Missouri, United Constitution, Pedro Medina, death penalty, James McCloskey, united constitution, cruel unusual, form execution, standard decency, prisoner paralyzed, lethal injection, form punishment,