There are only two sides to the death penalty argument, someone is against it or someone is for it. Some people believe in an eye for an eye, if a person is going to kill someone then the life of the person who committed the crime will be taken, as victims love those who can sometimes be closure but not always . Others have a more religious and moral problem with the death penalty, believing that taking life is wrong no matter what the circumstances.
What many people don’t understand is that sometimes a lethal injection can cost more than jailing them for life. What causes this is all the appeals, additional proceedings, and legal issues that can sometimes drag you out. Many prisoners are on death row for sometimes fifteen years or more. Some may also argue that the death penalty is hypocritical. How can the courts send the message that killing people is wrong if they kill the person who committed the crime? Another problem with the death penalty is that the punishment is too easy for the prisoner. Many feel that prison life is a better discovery as the suffering will last longer rather than end sooner. Finally, there is always the horrible possibility that someone who is innocent will be sentenced to death. The courts are not always right and once the lethal injection is over there is no second chance.
On the other hand, the most fundamental part of the justice system is that the punishment must fit the crime, if someone takes their life, then it only seems far off that their life will be taken in return. Also, keeping someone locked up for life gives them a chance to kill again. They can be paroled, escape, or kill another inmate who is there for a less serious crime, getting them out of the system sooner is in the best interest of society. In addition, the death penalty provides another deterrent for those serving life sentences. Reducing the possibility that they will kill again for fear of death as the only thing that can do them justice.
The death penalty has as many pros as cons, and strangely enough, many of the pros can also become cons and vice versa. Not only that, the technology has come up so much in recent years that some of the strongest cons have become less valuable. The argument of error and someone who did not commit the crime being put to death is less likely to happen today with advanced DNA processing. In my opinion, the death penalty should be allowed, those who take someone’s life are probably also afraid of dying, and those who don’t need to be removed from the general society so they can’t kill again, keeping them around will only allow them to you continue. Having a penalty like the death penalty is the only really effective deterrent.
