Reggie Clemons was convicted and sentenced to death in 1991 for the rape and murder of sisters – Julie and Robin Kerry (Amnesty International). The problem happens to be the evidence used against him was not illegal and he should not have been …show more content…
As Thoreau says, “It is not a man’s duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong,” which sums up how the death penalty shouldn’t be allowed since no man should be tasked with the duty of taking the life of someone else do to their crimes and wrong doing; it’s hypocrisy (Thoreau). The death penalty is often thought to be cheaper than holding a prisoner for life, but that is false (OADP). It is believe that the state would save around 2.3 million dollars if they got rid of the death penalty, but the death penalty already causes around 9 million dollars a year (OADP). All of that money would be much better off helping the victims affected by the crimes of the criminals put on death row to give the victims counseling and assistance where needed. The death penalty also does not deter crime because states without the death penalty tend to have lower murder rates than neighboring states that do have the death penalty (OADP). The death penalty is only still living due to the misconceptions and can only be put away for good if the US citizens show their distaste for the barbaric punishment. Instead the US is spending millions of unnecessary dollars on executions and believing it deters crime which is also false (OADP). Reggie Clemons lost many years of his life due to the grueling system of death row and prison and the citizens of the US paid for it