The Death Penalty

The murdering of innocent people has occurred throughout history, and for many reasons. The criminals committing these murders almost always have a consequence for such a crime, jail being the most common form. There are times, however, when the government deems it necessary to sentence these criminals to death for such an atrocity. Controversy rages about whether or not this is a suitable consequence, but it is more so a matter of morality and justness. The death penalty is an improper punishment for criminals.

Many believe that the death penalty is necessary because of overcrowding in prisons. It is claimed that there is not enough room for all of the prisoners, and that the taxpayers' money is funding these worthless criminal facilities. The amount of money currently put toward them is ludicrous, but it is true that these felons would not be suffering the consequence for their crime if put to death. Prisoners would get the easy way out of their hopeless situations. If the criminals were killed, they would not endure the pain of thinking about what they had done on a daily basis. The only consequence to criminal acts would be a trouble-free escape.

Those in opposition to the allowance of criminals to keep their lives argue the concept of "an eye for an eye". It is believed that if a criminal murders, he should be murdered as a result. America teaches that killing is unjust. The principle

of murdering as a result of murder is not just. Law does not permit murder by common citizen, so murder by government should not be legal either. The criminals' punishment should be jail, and only jail. When the government puts a criminal to death, the

purpose of enforcing America's laws against murder is defeated.

The possibility of a criminal's innocence is always abroad. There have been rare cases when a person convicted of murder has turned out to be innocent after his death