Mahatma Gandhi once said “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind” (“Quote Investigator”). The death penalty is based on the idea of ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’ from Hammurabi’s Code. This philosophy that the consequence should be equal to the crime committed may have worked almost four thousand years ago, but it is no longer relevant in today’s society. Supporters of the death penalty say that if you kill someone else, you have forfeited your right to life and should be punished. They also claim that it helps prevent the overcrowding of jails around the country (“This House Supports the Death Penalty”). However, many studies have shown that states with the death penalty have higher murder rates, and the chance of executing an innocent person is increasing (“Innocence and the Death Penalty”). The government should stop using the death penalty as a consequence for capital crimes.

One of the purposes of the death penalty is to deter crime. However, many recent studies have shown that many states with the death penalty have higher rates of murder than states without it (“The Death Penalty and Deterrence”). According to Michael Radelet, Professor and Associate Chair at the Department of Sociology of the University of Colorado, 88.2% of criminologists do not believe that the death penalty provides deterrence. The reason that the death penalty does not deter crime is because most murders are a result of alcohol or a mental illness, therefore many criminals do not think about the consequences of their actions (“The Death Penalty and Deterrence”). According to a study by the FBI, 84% of states without the death penalty have homicide rates below the national average. On the other hand, 50% of the states with the death penalty have homicide levels higher than average (Bonner, Fessenden). The death penalty should be illegal in the United States because it does not deter crime.

Subsequently, capital punishment is an extremely costly punishment compared to Life Without Parole (LWOP). Life Without Parole is life in prison without the possibility of parole or the chance of leaving prison. The complex judicial process required by the Constitution to ensure that the wrong person isn’t executed is a long and extremely expensive exercise. According to a study conducted by Paula M. Mitchell, a Loyola Law School professor and Arthur L. Alarcon, 9th US Circuit Judge, taxpayers in California have spent more than $4 billion over the past 37 years on the cost of capital punishment on thirteen cases. Each of the thirteen cases costed approximately $308 million. They also predict that by 2030, the cost of maintaining the death penalty will skyrocket to $9 billion (Williams). Their study also showed that a death penalty case is at least $1.1 million more expensive than a Life Without Parole case. However, capital punishment cases can cost up to 20 times the amount of a LWOP case.  The billions of dollars that would be saved if the death penalty was abolished could be used for increasing border patrol, education, or health care. The death penalty should be eradicated because it is extremely expensive.

Death is permanent. Once someone is killed, there is no way to bring them back. Another reason capital punishment should not be used as a punishment in the United States is because of the high risk of executing an innocent person. According to a study done by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, one out of twenty five people on death row are innocent (Gross, O’Brien, Hu, Kennedy) (Pilkinton). As of July 1, 2013, there were 3,095 people on death row, meaning that 123 of these people are innocent (“DEATH ROW U.S.A. Summer 2013”). If 4.1% of the people on death row are innocent, but only 1.6% are exonerated, this means that there are still innocent people being executed (Pilkington). People who support the death penalty claim that the number of innocent people being killed is decreasing due to DNA testing, however, “The danger that innocent people will be executed because of errors in the criminal justice system is getting worse. A total of 69 people have been released from death row since 1973 after evidence of their innocence emerged” (“Innocence and the Death Penalty”). The government should stop executing people because the risk of executing an innocent person is too high.

People who support the death penalty say that the it is necessary because it is the only way to restore justice. They claim that if a person takes the life of another person, they should give up their own life. The death penalty is based on principles that were applicable nearly 4,000 years ago when Hammurabi’s Code was written, however, many of these concepts are no longer applicable today. By using this barbaric philosophy, the United States shows that it has not progressed from ancient methods and in fact share the same beliefs as other countries with the death penalty such as China, Iran, Pakistan, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia. Many pro-death penalty advocates also claim that it helps relieve the overcrowding in many US prisons. There are roughly 2.4 million people in prisons across the US (J.F.). If an average of 35.1 people are being executed every year, that means that the death penalty is not a large factor in decreasing the number of people in US jails (“Number of Executions Since 1976: 1,404”). In 2011, California (a state with the death penalty) prisons were so crowded that they had to release or relocate 33,000 prisoners, showing that the death penalty is not an effective way to decrease the number of people in prisons (“This House Supports The Death Penalty”). The United States should stop executing people because it has not helped decrease the overcrowding of jails and does not restore justice.

Capital punishment is immoral and a violation of human rights. It has not led to the desired effect of deterrence, and is also an extremely expensive exercise. The risk of killing an innocent person is simply too high to continue executing people. The death penalty should be replaced by a much more effective and cost effective method: Life Without Parole. This is important because it is a big problem in the world and has an effect on thousands of people. Capital punishment needs to stop.