One of the major issues of the death penalty is the factor of deterrence. Punishment has always been used to stop would be criminals from breaking the law. Many people are interested in preventing murder, and many people feel the best way to deter murder, would to be to use the death penalty as an effective punishment. If offenders and potential criminals are aware of the penalty of death as a punishment, they are more likely to be discouraged from committing murder. People who are opposed to the death penalty assert that in other countries and other states where the death penalty is not used as a punishment have lower murder rates than the countries and states whe

Finally one of the biggest problems with the death penalty is the risk of executing an innocent person. It has not been proven that an innocent person has ever been executed in the United States. Since the laws of the death penalty were changed. The biggest fear our government has is killing an innocent man for a crime he did not commit. In the 1970's safeguards were added to the process as well as the appeals process which helps prevent innocent people from sitting on death row. The death penalty system also safeguards itself if it is discovered that a person is sitting on death row for a crime they did not commit. A governor would grant clemency and that person would be set free. Most claims of innocence today are eventually found to delay tactics to put off the execution as long as possible. With all the appeals that go through our court system today, an execution of a person on death row is almost impossible and if does take place, it is many years after the crime had has been committed. The other side to innocence has some very good points as well. The people in the opposition to the death penalty state that it is an irrevocable sentence and once the penalty is carried out we cannot bring an innocent person back to life. It is a fatal mistake that cannot be reversed. The capital punishment system is very unreliable in the United States. A study done by Columbia Law School found that two thirds of all capital punishment cases contained serious errors that could have affected the outcome of the case. Society takes a risk every time they recommend capital punishment

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