Death Penalty Argument Essay

Argue in favour or against this proposal The death penalty isn’t always the best way to deal with serious crimes, but it also depends on what you would class as a serious crime. The death penalty was abolished in 1965 for murder and in 1998 for all circumstances, we have managed to deal with most murders with executing them now so why do we need to bring it back? The death penalty puts innocent lives at risk. Many people have been executed but months, or even years, later have found out to be innocent or that there was no way they could have committed the crime. The death penalty also costs a lot of money. It is estimated that it costs $9 million per year in America for the death penalty alone. If they were to get rid of it they would save over $2.3 million. However the public need to be kept safe and if a dangerous criminal got onto the streets, after he has served his sentence, they would be terrified of what he could do next because nothing is stopping him committing more crimes. The death penalty goes against almost every religion. A human life is very valuable and those against the death penalty believe that even the worst murderers should not be deprived of the value of their lives. They believe that the value of the offender’s life cannot be destroyed by the offender’s bad conduct – even if they have killed someone. Mentally ill people are executed. Many mentally ill people are unable to to participate in their trials and appear unengaged, cold and unfeeling before the jury. Some have been forcibly medicated in order to make them competent to be executed.