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Death Penalty
“An estimated 14,000 Americans have been executed since the inception of the death penalty dating back to colonial times. The sanction of death for the punishment of a murder in the United States has declined in recent years. In 2006, the number of death sentences was 114, the lowest level in 30 years. Still, the United States remains the only advanced Western democracy that fails to recognize capital punishment as a profound human rights violation and as a frightening abuse of government power.”(aclu.org) There are many reasons the death penalty should be abolished. It is a complex issue and it is difficult to point to any single fact or argument as the most important. (law.cornell.edu) The following are a number of extremely valid reasons why states should stop the practice of capital punishment. Capital punishment does not deter crime. States are unable to prevent accidental execution of innocent people. Life without parole is a sensible alternative to the death penalty. All these points outline the error in the death penalty. (ncdap.org)
The act of capital punishment does not deter crime. Scientific studies have consistently failed to demonstrate that executions deter people from committing crime anymore than long prison sentences. Moreover, states without the death penalty have much lower murder rates. The South accounts for 80% of U.S. executions and has the highest regional murder rate. (ncdap.com) Although you may believe in the death penalty the evidence shows that ultimately the death penalty does not fulfill its purpose. Ultimately it is a failed attempt to stop crime.
Damasco 2
States are unable to prevent accidental execution of innocent people. The wrongful execution of an innocent person is an injustice that can never be rectified. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty, at least 124 men and women have been released from Death Row nationally, some only moments away from execution....