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My Death Penalty Essay
How'd you like to die? I thought not. There's no second chance or way to say that you're sorry. Absolutely everything has been taken from you. The death penalty is invoked when criminals are found guilty of the most heinous crimes. As the name infers, they are put to death, either by electroshock, or by lethal injection. The death penalty is used for convicted multiple killers, often. The death penalty is unfair, unjust, and just plain cruel.
For one, the death penalty is too permanent. Should the criminal that is put to death be innocent, that could be charged as murder. Over the last twenty years, 120 criminals on death row have been freed of blame before their scheduled punishment. If they had been killed, that would've been one hundred and twenty murders! DNA evidence can both prove someone guilty and innocent. Did you know more than 1000 people have been executed since 1976? You can be sure some of them must have been innocent.
Also, the death penalty is a violation of human rights. The eighth amendment, a right that everyone is entitled to, states that cruel and unusual punishment shall not be performed. There are few things more cruel than death. The death penalty is inhumane and unconstitutional, yet 2 out of 3 Americans somehow find it in their hearts to advocate the ceremonial killing of a fellow citizen. I'm not sure about you, but I'm not on board.
While it is reasonable that some may think this is a deterrent to future criminals, I ask you this: If you were a criminal, would you rather have a short, painless death, or decades of rotting in a dreary prison? In addition, the death penalty is expensive. The average cost for human to get executed is seven million dollars, while the average cost of a life sentence in jail is just one million dollars, a small fraction of the death penalty cost.
In conclusion, the death penalty is wrong for a few reasons. It is costly, it is inhumane, and it is everlasting. In substitution for the death penalty, one could suggest the possibility of jail without parole. It is just as everlasting, but can be reversed should the prisoner be declared innocent. Call your state representative, and present this alternative! This is an intensely pressing topic, with many human lives at stake. So, save some lives.
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