The Controversy of Death Penalty

The death penalty is a very controversial topic in many states. Although the idea of the death penalty does sound terrifying, would you really want a murderer to be given food and shelter for free? Would you want a murderer to get out of jail and still end up killing another innocent person? Imagine if that murder gets out of jail and kills someone in your family; Wouldn’t you want that murderer to be killed as well? Murderers can kill anyone.

They can kill the most innocent people, even loving fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, or anyone that is closest to you. The fact that they are still allowed to live after performing such crimes is a terrifying thought. Death Penalty is the worst punishment that can be given for committing a serious crime such as murder, treason, etc. Death Penalty must keep being used. Although it is controversial because it is a "cruel or unusual punishment", it has already caused many criminals to think twice before committing a crime, made our communities safer, and it will cost less to get rid of them instead of keeping them in jail.

These cold blooded killers are not immediately executed; they usually spend about 25 years on death row. About $50 Billion dollars of our tax money goes into paying for correction programs and maintaining prisons. Imagine someone murdered your loved one, do you really want to be paying for their care with your taxes? It is understandable that we are to believe that murderers change the way they are after going to jail because they had murdered someone. There are cases where the murderer admits that they will murder someone else if they are not given the death penalty. This thought is terrifying and assures danger. In April 28, 1979, Steven Judy raped and drowned Terry Lee Chasteen and her three children that were stranded on the side of the highway. During the trial, Steven Judy assured the jury that he would kill again. He also threatened the jury when he told them, “And it may be one of you next. Or your family.” The fact that he did not feel guilt, showed his cold blooded killer trait. He could not be able to stay in society. On March 9, 1981 in Indiana, Steven Judy was put to death by the electric chair. Students conducted an experiment where they looked for how many murderers feel guilt after they have killed; studies show that they do not feel guilty and are most likely to kill again. This was just one of many murderers that admitted that they will not change if they are not put to death. They should not be able to stay in society and be able to cause further harm on to the people that we love.

Since 2002, there has been 649 less inmates on death row. Many people find capital punishment a touchy subject. I agree. Many people say that the death penalty is a bad and inhumane way to treat killers. I agree that there are many murderers who change their ways and regret the things they have done. But, for some In 1975, Raymond Guay, an adult male from Kentucky, kidnapped and murdered a twelve year old for reasons police cannot find out. While Guay was in prison, he found God and soon realized his wrong doings and changed. When Guay was released from prison, he was then taken in by a pastor. This is an example of a murderer who changed their ways. But, there is still the other majority who do not change and we cannot let these people live in our society, as they can cause harm onto many other people. As a community, we can not let them walk free and hurt others loved ones.

For the people who have jobs and pay taxes, their money goes to things that can help services, but how does that involve Jail? People do their taxes, and some of it goes to sheltering and feeding criminals. According to the Us, Department of education state and locals of spending on prisons and jail has increased a triple the rate of funding for public education. This shows that instead of our taxes increasing for education K-12, it is increasing for sheltering criminals. We could be using our tax money to help schools fix their old buildings or even getting them new books. Students need a better form of education that could be used from out taxes. Giving the prisons our taxes more than schools isn't really right. Doing this shows how we as a community could try and help places that change and make a difference, not a place where out money goes to waste on people who don’t deserve it. Another example is that In 1953 the percentage of Death row inmates executed was 47.33% and in 2013 1.30%. This shows that the amount of execution has decreased while our tax money has increased to shelter inmates. “Prisons, Juvenile justice programs, and parole and other corrections Programs make up about 5 percent of state budgets.” This proves that when people are doing there taxes 5% of their money that they are working hard for goes to sheltering criminals.

According to Ani Ravi, a corporate lawyer from Harvard Law School, that is pro death penalty, regardless of what others say. He says that because the bad conditions of prison, the death penalty should exist. According to his study on a majority of prison systems, he observed that many prison systems have terrible conditions. They are overcrowded, very violent, and the police are very biased. Many people think that death penalty is very inhumane, but the prison system can be very much worse. According to study on CNN in 2014, convicts are sixty percent more likely to be raped in jail than out of jail. Imagine what it’s like to be convicted and then having to be raped on a daily basis. The death penalty is something that is very needed in this society, because we can not let cold blooded murderers walk on our streets. We can’t let them live in our neighborhood and we can not let them be able to make their next move and take more lives. The death penalty is the solution to decreasing future murders.

Although many people think that the death penalty is a way to serve justice, other may think that it’s not right. According to OADP, there have been 121 cases of innocent men and women getting the death penalty. This shows that people are getting killed for things that Another example of this , is that someone who kills white men are more likely to get the death penalty , then someone who kills African Americans. This shows that race and place , determines who lives and who dies. “One out of every ten who has been executed in the United States since 1977 is mentally ill, according to Amnesty International and the National Association on Mental Illness. Many mentally ill defendants are unable to participate in their trials in any meaningful way and appear unengaged, cold, and unfeeling before the jury. Some have been forcibly medicated in order to make them competent to be executed. Although the U.S. Supreme Court has decreed that people with “mental retardation” may not be executed, Oregon has not yet passed a law banning the execution of the mentally ill.” This shows how they don’t view each case and just puts anyone that they want that looks harmful to the community when it’s not their fault, in the death penalty sentence.

As we have seen from the actions of the cold blooded killers, the death penalty needs to exist because we need a safer community and less murders. The death penalty is a solution that is very controversial but, it is the only way to go because we cannot give cold blooded killers any chance to live in our society along with our kids and our loved ones. As a community, we need to avoid letting these cold blooded killers murder another family’s loved ones. Imagine a world with less killers. Imagine a world where serial killers are scared to commit crimes because they are aware of the punishment they will get. The death penalty is something that will surely scare killers. Society will be a better place if we get rid of all of the killers. Always ask yourself, do we really take a risk and see if a murderer will kill again? Or should we take the initiative and get rid of the murderers when they knew the consequences?

Work Cited

“Part I: History of the Death Penalty.” Part I: History of the Death Penalty | Death Penalty Information Center, www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/part-i-history-death-penalty. Accessed 29 Mar. 2017.

Please, Info. “Methods of Execution Used in Capital Punishment and States That Have Abolished the Death Penalty.” Infoplease, Infoplease, 1 May 2013, Accessed 29 Mar. 2017.

“Did You Know? - Death Penalty - ProCon.org.” Should the Death Penalty Be Allowed?, 9 Dec. 2016, deathpenalty.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=001631. Accessed 29 Mar. 2017.

“Executed But Possibly Innocent.” Executed But Possibly Innocent | Death Penalty Information Center, www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/executed-possibly-innocent. Accessed 29 Mar. 2017.

“Recidivism.” National Institute of Justice, 17 June 2014, www.nij.gov/topics/corrections/recidivism/Pages/welcome.aspx. Accessed 29 Mar. 2017.

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