Pros and Cons of the Death Penalty

This is another topic that tends to get the attention of many people because it also tends to get people very hot under the collar when someone disagrees with them. The issue of what a life is worth and what the price of vengeance is tends to come up a lot since some folks believe in the saying “an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind”. Others however tend to think that allowing criminals to live off of the taxpayers and receive three guaranteed meals a day, the ability to better themselves after breaking the law, and the chance to exist at all as an insult to those they’ve harmed. It’s a very stick issue that doesn’t have an easy answer unless you ask either side, in which case you might get a very firm absolute or a great deal of discussion that winds around in a continuous circle.

The point is, there’s really no easy way to say whether the death penalty should still exist or not.

Pros

Some think that it deters criminals from committing serious crimes.
In order to be humane death comes quickly and with as little pain as possible.
The legal system is continually evolving to see that justice is met and the right people are punished.
The victims and their families get a measure of justice that incarceration wouldn’t provide.
There’s a very big possibility that without a maximum penalty that some criminals would continue to find ways to break the law.
It is far more cost-effective as a solution.
It is retribution, not revenge.

I can already hear the clamber of those that would seek to dispute each and every point made FOR the death penalty and it is quite obvious that there are plenty of holes in each point through which to thread your hooks. Tearing apart the Pros however would be a bit unfair without taking a look at the Cons, which are in many ways just as faulty from a certain point of view, but are still considered to be worth looking at as they offer a different perspective.

Cons

There’s no proof that the death penalty works as a deterrent.
It is considered to be cruel and unusual punishment. There is no dignity afforded to the inmate.
It simply continues a cycle of violence that essentially doesn’t make sense.
The number of deaths is disproportionate along racial lines.
It is an antiquated method of justice that continues to show America as less civilized than much of the world.
There is always the likelihood of a mistake when it comes to the justice system.
It is not as cost-effective as one might think.
A life spent in prison is worse than a quick death.

Bad people do bad things, that’s a given. But the issue of whether they must be made to pay the final price for their deeds is always in question. Across the nation many states still support the death penalty even as protesters continually seek to abolish this practice. There’s no way to tell just who’s right when it comes to saying ‘yay’ or ‘nay’ for the death penalty, as the practice is in some ways quite excessive, but in others seems to be the only way to gain even a small amount of retribution, even if others would call it revenge.