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Why The Death Penalty Should Be Abolished

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“When can we learn by reason[,] judgement[,] understanding and faith that all life is worth saving, and mercy is the highest attribute?” asked Clarence Darrow at the trial for Leopold and Loeb. This was his hope for the country. Darrow was strongly opposed to the death penalty and through his argument was able to get Leopold and Loeb life without parole instead of death. The death penalty is wrong and is against human nature. Capital punishment in the U.S. should be abolished because we have no right to decide someone's fate, only God should decide, the convicts on death row are just piling up and the thought of punishment does not prevent someone from committing a crime.
Think about a person, any human being. It could be the person …show more content…
It takes half of a lifetime for some convicts to reach their execution date. Others die waiting for execution. In Florida, it would take one hundred and seventy five years to clear out their death row inmates, that is without adding more. California has the highest number of convicts on death row and seven hundred and fifty of them have not made an appeal because of an underfunded defense budget. Moving faster runs the risk of executing the wrong person as there have been one hundred and fifty people on death row found innocent after years of …show more content…
They have not considered that a lot of people on death row do not believe that they have done wrong. The death penalty does not deter people from committing murder. The New York Times did a study that show the murder rates rose and fell almost symmetrically between states with and without capital punishment . Also murder rates in states with the death penalty were forty-eight to one hundred and one percent higher. This proves that capital punishment is ineffective. Others may believe that the death of a convicted murderer might ease the sorrow on the family of the victim. Yet killing the killer will not bring back the victim. I go back to the Leopold and Loeb case for my final argument. They committed the crime because they believed that they had the “perfect crime.” They had no fear of the death penalty and this shocked the world. Those who support the death penalty often say that the states spent thousands of dollars a year on those with life without parole. States also spend millions on buying and developing equipment to execute people. The money used to fund capital punishment could be put to use to rehabilitate criminals and release them back into society. Punishment is meant to discipline, but you cannot discipline a person if they are

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