Arguments against the death penalty?

Question

I have to do a speech about why I'm against the death penalty I have some strong points already any body got anything else or some reasons why it's wrong

Answer 1

I can give you information about some of the practical aspects of the death penalty system. Here are answers to questions often asked about it (with sources listed below.)

Use whatever you like.

Isn't the death penalty cheaper than keeping criminals in prison? (Many people are mistaken about this)

The death penalty costs much more than life in prison. The extra costs include those due to the complicated nature of both the pre trial investigation and of the trials (involving 2 separate stages, mandated by the Supreme Court) in death penalty cases.  Extra costs also include the lengthy appeals process. (More about this below, under speed.) There are more cost effective ways to prevent and control crime.

What about the risk of executing innocent people?

Over 120 people on death rows have been released with evidence of their innocence, many having already served over 2 decades on death row.  

Doesn't DNA keep new cases like these from happening?

(Here too, people are mistaken)

DNA is available in less than 10% of all homicides. It is not a guarantee against the execution of innocent people.

Doesn't the death penalty prevent others from committing murder? (Another widely misunderstood point about the system.)

No reputable study shows the death penalty to be a deterrent. Homicide rates are higher in states that have it than in states that do not. Most killers don't think about the consequences anyway.  They do not think they will be caught (if they think at all.)

So, what are the alternatives?

Life without parole is now on the books in 48 states. It means what it says. Supermax prisons are terrible places to spend the rest of your life.  Life without parole is less expensive than the death penalty.

What about the very worst crimes?

The death penalty isn’t reserved for the “worst of the worst,” but rather for defendants with the worst lawyers.  When is the last time a wealthy person was sentenced to death, let alone executed??

Doesn't the death penalty help families of murder victims?

Not necessarily. Murder victim family members across the country argue that the drawn-out death penalty process is painful for them and that life without parole is an appropriate alternative.

So, why don't we speed up the process and the appeals?

Many of the 124 innocent people released from death row had already been there for over 2 decades.  If the process is speeded up we are sure to execute an innocent person.

But don’t Americans prefer the death penalty as the most serious punishment?

Not any more. People are rethinking their views, given the facts and the records on innocent people sentenced to death. According to a Gallup Poll, in 2006, 47% of all Americans prefer capital punishment while 48% prefer life without parole.

Answer 2

why have the state or government pay to feed and clothe them.. make them die

Answer 3

I  think that death and Heaven are too good for the Death Chair bound.  Let them suffer forever in a cell.  I don't know the crime, so I'm thinking of complete malice.  Cat

Answer 4

well the only reason i would at all think it is wrong is so that they can suffer in jail for the rest of their life.

Answer 5

It is immoral for a society to kill a mind, even a mad killer, because a society is a lesser form of evolution, while at present the human mind is the pinnacle of evolution. It is always wrong for one level of evolution to attempt to destroy something above it. For a group of people to kill someone for the imagined good of everyone else, would be no different than for elephants to rampage through a city mauling and destroying everything in their path, cockroaches to spread disease and kill millions, or STDs allowed to run rampant. Plants and animals are beneath society, while inert non-biological forces are beneath animals.

Answer 6

If you kill the person and then find out they were innocent, its very hard to 'take it back'.

Answer 7

The death penalty goes beyond the need to protect the public from a menace, simple solitary confinement with no parole will do that just fine. The death penalty is a tool of revenge and therefore is not moral and should not be permitted.

The argument that the death penalty is a deterrent is not valid, I would venture to say that in the crazed moments when one is capable of committing a crime that would warrant the death penalty the consequences of those actions are the furthest thing from an individuals thoughts and therefore does not act as a deterrent.

Recent advances in technology have shown that techniques used by law enforcement to identify suspects even with eye witness accounts are flawed and if by eliminating the death penalty we save even one innocent life then it has more than made up for the cost of housing violent criminals indefinitely.

Lastly as humans become more advanced we should shun the types of punishment that are immoral and arcane. As a species that is constantly evolving into creatures of higher intellect we should seek to create a society that does not use this type of punishment. Although humans will never create a utopia it should be the goal and eliminating the death penalty will go a long way in creating the type of society we should be striving for.