Death Penalty Is Wrong

Should we kill people or the death penalty? This question has been brought up for centuries, ever since the first human civilizations. To some, this may be a no-brainer. Some people may say, “Of course we should kill bad people. It prevents crime!” Not exactly. The Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty Organization (OADP) states, “Scientific studies have consistently failed to demonstrate that executions deter people from committing crime. Around our country, states without the death penalty have a lower murder rate than neighboring states with the death penalty.” (The Facts: 13 Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty, http://oadp.org/facts/13-reasons) Capital punishment is wrong. Although people may do bad things, the death penalty
For example, according to Brian Evans, the director of Amnesty of International USA’s Death Penalty Abolition Campaign, “the execution of Teresa Lewis in Virginia on September 23; she was put to death as the “mastermind” of a crime despite her 72 IQ, and despite the fact that the men who actually carried out the crime did not get the death penalty.” A 72 IQ is on the verge of mental retardation. It is not fair to kill a person with that low of an IQ and not kill the actual criminals. If the government can do that then they could kill anybody, and that’s not right. If ruthless, vicious criminals aren’t killed, then why kill anyone at
Others take their word for it. But is that really true? Common Dreams, a nonprofit independent news center, says “Over the lifetime of a case, executing prisoners can be three times as expensive as life in prison, primarily due to the higher costs of capital punishment trials, automatic appeals, and the heightened security on death row with lower staff-to-prisoner ratios. Commuting all death sentences to life in prison would save hundreds of millions of dollars per year in the U.S. and many billions over the coming decades.” (Dan Brook, “Kill the Death Penalty: 10 Arguments Against Capital Punishment”) Think of all of the things America can benefit on with that money. Education could be better. There could be better schools, colleges, and supplies.With more educated citizens, more people can lead good successful lives. More money can be used in healthcare. More awful diseases could be treated and cure terrified patients. All of that can happen, if only capital punishment is