Abolish the Death Penalty

If I was in the position to influence laws on the death penalty, I would definitely be an abolitionist. Criminals should be punished for their crimes but the death penalty is without a doubt cruel and unusual punishment, that is unconstitutional, extreme and unnecessary. The death penalty might be an effective deterrent but there are other punishments that are equally effective. There are also racial and social discriminations in the system that object certain individuals to be more likely to be executed which is unjust. The mere action of killing of any kind is morally incorrect and should never be justified.

Murdering someone because they murdered someone else only generates a cycle of violence. The death penalty is a capital punishment based on the "eye for an eye” idea that we should treat people as they have treated others to gain proportional retributivism. But, there will never be a punishment that is equivalent to undo the pain and sadness the family and friends of a victim feel. Although murderers are people who have committed terrible crimes, we must show restraint and protect the value and dignity of human life. The 8th amendment forbids the infliction of cruel and unusual punishment, and the death penalty is unconstitutional and morally wrong no matter what procedures have been set and met. No one should be given the power to take the life of another. It is simply murder

Many retentionists validate murdering criminals as deterrence for future murderers. There will never be an absolute proof that execution is the most effective deterrent because we can’t assume that all murders take the time to ponder their crime based on what punishment they think they might get if they are caught. Jeffrey Reiman explains, “anyone capable of being deterred from murder by the threat of the death penalty would be equally well deterred by