Death Sentence

What is the death penalty? It is the maximum sentence in our government's judicial system, it is being sentenced to death rather than living out life in prison without the chance of parole. The death sentence varies from state to state. To make matters worse the topic is highly discussed and very controversial. The issues that both sides argue over are money issues, moral issues, and the issue of wrongful sentences which are all heavily looked at. However both sides of this argument do agree that the safety of society, deterring crime, and ridding the streets of criminals is of the utmost importance to everyone.

Most people that are against having a death penalty look at the money issues like how much it cost and how the money is spent. The death penalty is looked at as a huge waste of taxpayers' money when all of the money could be used for better things. One of those things could be paying for more police officers to help fight crime. According to American Civil Liberties Union, (ACLU) it cost a state a total of 137 million dollars per year, but a sentence of life in prison would cost just 11.5 million a year. This is caused by not only the execution but the rigorous amount of time getting all the paper work together and the inmate has to wait in jail until all of the paper work is done.

What makes matters worse is that innocent people have been accused and then sentenced to death. This causes the victims' families to grieve more knowing that their loved one was wrongly accused and then killed for it and then the government has to spend even more to complicate for their loss. According to opposing viewpoints author Gale, since 1973, 138 people have been released from death row after evidenced appeared showing their innocence. These innocent people who were wrongfully accused end up spending years in jail cells

The other side of this argument that approves of the death penalty believes that the threat of the death penalty deters crime. Having this this threat but rarely using it is how most states plan on using it. It does however come in to play to punish some of the worse crimes that are committed. It is argued that by taking away the death penalty you take way the victims loved ones right to revenge, and by riding the world of the criminal it makes the world safer for all of society. Some try to say that it is done in the best interests of everyone and with the death penalty we allow these criminals to pay for their crimes.