The Death Penalty In The Criminal Justice System

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One of the debated issues In the Criminal Justice System, especially in the United State, is the death penalty because few people have very strong opinions about how offenders should be punished for the harm they course in our communities. When the death penalty will continue to be an issue that will be debated among citizens for many years to come. Those who are in favor agree the death penalty is a fair punishment for those who take another human life, however, there are those who disagree. This essay will cover a brief history of the death penalty and some point of view of why some are in favor of the death penalty and both to the idea.
Intro/History:
The death penalty (the killing of convicted offenders) has been since ancient time …show more content…
Many claim that it is wrong to kill and when the state kills it sends out the wrong message to the publics. In addition, they think if it is wrong to kill then it is wrong for the government to kill anyone and that the government is hypocritical. The government says to citizens that taking another human life is wrong, but they break their own law by execution. Another important point made those opposed the death penalty is that every life has valued even that of a killer, and no one has the right to take a life but God. As it is stated in Bible "Deuteronomy 32:39 See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one to deliver out of my hand" (Bible). No human has the right to make decisions to end another life, God does that. Further on, they argue that innocent people have been wrongly executed and the sad thing about this, according to those who are opposed is that innocence is proven after the execution has been carried out. For example, in 1994 Anthony Graves was convicted of helping Rober Carter in the killing of six people in 1992. Even though there wasn't any evidence to prove Graves had a hand in the killing, his conviction was based largely on Carter's testimony. Carter testified in court that Graves was his partner in committing the crime. In 2000 Carter confessed two weeks before he was executed that …show more content…
One of the arguments made by people who support the death penalty is the cost of caring for keeping inmates while in prison. The Death Penalty Information Center states "cases without the death penalty cost $740,000, while cases where the death penalty is sought cost $1.26 million. Maintaining each death row prisoner costs taxpayers $90,000 more per year than a prisoner in the general population" (deathpenaltyinfo.org,2016). Some believe the death penalty is a good idea because it is very good way to stop criminals from repeating a crime and prison
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