The main question about the death penalty which arises between its supporters and opponents is the existing of this kind of punishment.
Murder is murder no matter who commits it, rather it’s the justice system or another citizen, the death penalty takes away from the punishment and that is the reason why the offenders should have to live out their days in prison paying for their hideous crimes.
The death penalty is a kind of punishment fixed for particularly serious crimes. Though, comparing the crimes, it is not clear why one murderer should be condemned and another one should be convicted. There are several types of the death punishment in the United States. Lethal injection, electrocution, hanging, firing squad and gas camber are among them (Death Penalty Information Center).
It is possible to state that the death penalty is a kind of a vengeance. One can consider it to be a vendetta of a state to a criminal for the crimes he committed. One can regard the death penalty as a fair punishment resulting after heinous crimes. In spite of these statements, the death penalty is still an ordinary murder and not a punishment.
According to The Daily Mail there are eleven criminals who are supposed to be executed in July in Texas (McCormac, 2013). Last year there were executed 15 convicts. The Daily Mail states that Texas is a record holder among other states in putting people to death (McCormac, 2013). Bright, in his article “Death in Texas” also confirms this fact (1999).
If the justice system is allowed to take one’s life, then some people who perceive this kind of punishment as an act of vengeance may think that they are allowed to do it too. Therefore, a risk of committing horrible crimes increases.
The Amnesty International, which focuses on releasing prisoners and protects human rights, states that more than 130 people were released since 1973 because of the wrong convictions (Amnesty International). Though, there were a lot of cases in the death punishment practice when an innocent human was killed because of the juridical mistake. Such kinds of mistakes can be discovered and admitted, but unfortunately they cannot be corrected, because it is impossible to return a life for a killed human and a real criminal remains alive.
The death penalty is a slight punishment for a criminal in comparison with the life imprisonment. The first one makes a criminal deliver from having qualms for what has been done. The second one makes a criminal regret all his life and repent of what has been done while staying in prison. Any criminal must suffer punishment for the evil deeds. The imprisonment for life is worse than the death penalty. It is harder for a criminal to live realizing what a monster he or she is instead of dying.
The death penalty process is expensive. It takes a lot of time and can be applied unfairly. It does not make a convict to regret of what has been done as it is supposed to do. Therefore, it is a useless punishment.
Nowadays more and more states are abolishing the death penalty. Death Penalty Information Center informs that thirty three states retain the death penalty, but it was not put into practice in thirteen from them. Together with those thirteen states, another seventeen states are not carrying the death penalty already (Death Penalty Information Center). Being imprisoned for life a criminal will have enough time to revise his deeds and life views. The prisoner may change and become a better person while being convicted forever, which is impossible to happen after the death penalty.
There is a diverse opposition to the death penalty in the USA. It is represented by the public-interested law-groups, the racial organizations, the religious groups (Catholic, Jewish, Protestant) and others (Bedau, 1992).
The jurisdiction of the states where the death penalty is still legal should be revised and this kind of punishment should be abolished since it does not actually punish the guilty person, but saves the criminal from qualms and repentance.