Death Penalty In America

The death penalty is a controversial subject in the United States. This form of punishment, “dates as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon” (Death Penalty). The death penalty was utilized even before America was formed as a consequence of crime. Initially, America did not use the death penalty as a capital punishment, but America was influenced by Britain and adapted it as repercussion to acts of felony. Today, while the death penalty has many supporters, there is a great resistance towards it also. The death penalty should be legal in America. There are various reasons as to why the death penalty should be legalized in America, including dissuasion, and justice. The use of the death penalty as …show more content…
Justice isn’t taken as an act of revenge but as an act of fairness, “Repealing the death penalty would result in acts similar to those in Newtown, Connecticut. Each murder after the first would be a freebie. This is not justice” (Brauchler). If we do not stop the murder after the first crime, then we are simply turning a blind eye. Every murder after the first will be a result of our ignorance to the reality of the situation. An additional reason why the death penalty brings justice is because it gives closure to the victim’s family knowing that the killer will no longer be in the world to induce more harm. In a trial where a man was sentenced the death penalty for killing several people on Thanksgiving in 2010, this is what the family had to say, “ ‘She felt comforted to know that he will be put to death...but I can’t imagine what the death penalty is for if not for this’ ” (Futty). To the families of victims the only way to move on is knowing that the criminal that did such a heinous crime will be put to death. The death penalty is not abolished in many states for this very reason. The death penalty brings closure to the families of the victims. Capital punishment puts the scales of society back in balance with …show more content…
A great amount of people find it hypocritical to counteract violence with violence. Currently, there are thirty-one states that have legalized the death penalty including the the U.S. government and U.S. military, and nineteen states that have abolished it including the District of Columbia (“States”). If the death penalty is unconstitutional then why are there more states who have legalized it than states who have abolished it? When more than half of the state utilizes the death penalty it is safe to say that the death penalty is constitutional. Furthermore, another opposition states that the death penalty kills innocents. Abolitionists argue that over the years there were many innocents who died by the death penalty, however evidence states otherwise, “ Death row inmates in the U.S. typically spend over a decade awaiting execution. Some prisoners have been on death row for well over 20 years” (“Time”). No innocent was killed accidentally while on death row. Every criminal sits on death row for at least a decade giving plenty of time to go over the case and re-check if the criminal is indeed the right person or an innocent. In conclusion, the death penalty should be legalized in America because it dissuades further crime, brings justice, and brings back balance to the