Pick either pro or con as a starting point to discuss the death penalty.
Pick either pro or con as a starting point to discuss the death penalty. Whichever one you choose, provide supporting ideas, detail and examples, not just opinion.The system can make tragic and irreversible mistakes. In 2004, Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in Texas for starting the fire that killed his children. Multiple forensic experts have since found that the arson “science” his conviction was based on was junk science. As of today, 138 wrongly convicted people who were sentenced to death have been exonerated. DNA is rarely available in homicides and can’t guarantee we won’t execute innocent people. Obviously, if someone is convicted and later found innocent you can release him from prison, but not from the grave. The death penalty doesn’t keep us safer. Homicide rates are consistently higher in states and regions with the death penalty than in those without it. The most recent FBI data confirms this. Fear of being caught is the best deterrent. Keeping killers off the streets for good: Life without parole, on the books in 49 states (all except Alaska), also prevents reoffending. It means what it says, and spending 23 of 24 hours a day locked in a tiny cell is no picnic. Two advantages: An innocent person serving life can be released from prison. Life without parole costs less than the death penalty. The death penalty is much more expensive than life in prison. The high costs of the death penalty are for the complicated legal process, with the largest costs at the pre-trial and trial stages. The point is to avoid executing innocent people. There are tremendous expenses in a death penalty case whether or not the defendant is convicted, let alone sentenced to death. Contrary to popular belief, the death penalty isn’t reserved for the worst crimes, but for defendants with the worst lawyers. It doesn’t apply to people with money. When is the last time a wealthy person was on death row, let alone executed? People assume that families of murder victims…
