Yes

·         Financial costs to taxpayers of capital punishment is several times that of keeping someone in prison for life.  

·         It is barbaric and violates the "cruel and unusual" clause in the Bill of Rights.  

·         The endless appeals and required additional procedures clog our court system.  

·         We as a society have to move away from the "eye for an eye" revenge mentality if civilization is to advance.

·         It sends the wrong message: why kill people who kill people to show killing is wrong.  

·         Life in prison is a worse punishment and a more effective deterrent.  

·         Other countries (especially in Europe) would have a more favorable image of America. 

·         Some jury members are reluctant to convict if it means putting someone to death.  

·         The prisoner's family must suffer from seeing their loved one put to death by the state, as well as going through the emotionally-draining appeals process.  

·         The possibility exists that innocent men and women may be put to death.  

·         Mentally ill patients may be put to death.  

·         It creates sympathy for the monstrous perpetrators of the crimes.  

·         It often draws top talent laywers who will work for little or no cost due to the publicity of the case and their personal beliefs against the morality of the death

·         penalty, increasing the chances a technicality or a manipulated jury will release a guilt person.  

·         It is useless in that it doesn't bring the victim back to life.

 

No

·         The death penalty gives closure to the victim's families who have suffered so much.  

·         It creates another form of crime deterrent.  

·         Justice is better served.  

·         Our justice system shows more sympathy for criminals than it does victims.  

·         It provides a deterrent for prisoners already serving a life sentence.  

·         DNA testing and other methods of modern crime scene science can now effectively eliminate almost all uncertainty as to a person's guilt or innocence.

·         Prisoner parole or escapes can give criminals another chance to kill.

·         It contributes to the problem of overpopulation in the prison system.  

·         It gives prosecutors another bargaining chip in the plea bargain process, which is essential in cutting costs in an overcrowded court system.

 

Innocence and the Death Penalty The wrongful execution of an innocent person is an injustice that can never be rectified. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty, 142 men and women have been released from death row nationally.

 

The High Cost of the Death Penalty It costs far more to execute a person than to keep him or her in prison for life.

 

Death Penalty Can Prolong Suffering for Victims' Families Many family members who have lost love ones to murder feel that the death penalty will not heal their wounds nor will it end their pain; the extended legal process prior to executions can prolong the agony experienced by the victims' families.

 

International Views on the Death Penalty The vast majority of countries in Western Europe, North America and South America - more than 139 nations worldwide - have abandoned capital punishment in law or in practice.

 

Inadequate Legal Representation Perhaps the most important factor in determining whether a defendant will receive the death penalty is the quality of the representation he or she is provided.

 

Deterrence Scientific studies have consistently failed to demonstrate that executions deter people from committing crime anymore than long prison sentences.

 

Arbitrariness in the Application of the Death Penalty Politics, quality of legal counsel and the jurisdiction where a crime is committed are more often the determining factors in a death penalty case than the facts of the crime itself.

 

Religious Perspectives on the Death Penalty Although isolated passages of religious scripture have been quoted in support of the death penalty, almost all religious groups in the United States regard executions as immoral.

 

Racial Disparities The race of the victim and the race of the defendant in capital cases are major factors in determining who is sentenced to die in this country. In 1990 a report from the General Accounting Office concluded that "in 82 percent of the studies [reviewed], race of the victim was found to influence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder or receiving the death penalty, i.e. those who murdered whites were more likely to be sentenced to death than those who murdered blacks."

 

Alternatives to the Death Penalty In every state that retains the death penalty, jurors have the option of sentencing convicted capital murderers to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The sentence is cheaper to tax-payers and keeps violent offenders off the streets for good.