Counterarguments and Rebuttals

In the same time people will argue that some criminals deserve to die, so they can pay for what they’ve done. But how do they pay for their crime by death? It would be more effective punishment to have life in prison, because then inmates have to live knowing their life is ruined. Execution allows society to eliminate a human being, but may be life in prison would have more pay-offs. Many prisons in the United States practice penal labor; this way inmates help the state’s economy and pay for their crimes in some way.

Defending death penalty, people say that death penalty is a relief for victim’s families. It sounds wrong, because revenge is never an escape. Execution of a most dangerous murderer will never bring killed person back to life. Judy Kerr, whose brother was murdered said: “The death penalty won't bring my brother back or help to apprehend his murderer. We need to start investing in programs that will actually improve public safety and get more killers off the streets.”

Conclusion

The death penalty in modern life is a waste of money and time. Before, when it was cheap and quick, it made sense, but not now. The insignificant life of criminals is not worth even half of money that execution takes. It is not an equivalent exchange, because life of innocent people cannot be compared to murderer’s life. Taking life for a life is a barbarian way of solving problems. Money that execution process takes can be spent on the young generation to prevent future criminals and provide better future for our children. If citizens will vote for abolishing of death penalty, they will support the young generation instead of supporting the worthless way of punishment.

Citations

• Burkhead, Michael D. A Life for a Life: The American Debate Over the Death Penalty. Jefferson: McFarland, 7-124. Print.

• Drehle, David V. "Bungled executions. Backlogged courts. And three more reasons the modern death penalty is a Failed Experiment." TIME., 8 June 2015. EBSCOhost. Web. 5 Nov. 2015.

• Ford, Matt. "A Brief History of American Executions." The Atlantic., June 2015. EBSCOhost. Web. 5 Nov. 2015.

• "Quotes by Families of Homicide Victims." EJUSA. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2015. <http://ejusa.org/learn/quotes/victims>.

• Elliot, Elizabeth A. "Nebraska referendum to repeal abolished death penalty costly." National Catholic Reporter. The National Catholic Reporter Publishing Company, 30 Sept. 2015. Web. 10 Nov. 2015. http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/nebraska-referendum-repeal-abolished-death-penalty-costly

• "Capital Punishment in Nebraska." Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. Web. 5 Nov. 2015. <http://www.corrections.nebraska.gov/policiescapital.html>.

• "Deterrence: States Without the Death Penalty Have Had Consistently Lower Murder Rates." Death Penalty Information Center. Web. 5 Nov. 2015. <http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/deterrence-states-without-death-penalty-have-had-consistently-lower-murder-rates>.

· Kerr, Judy. "Quotes by Families of Homicide Victims." EJUSA. Equal Justice USA, 2015. Web. 5 Nov. 2015. <http://ejusa.org/learn/quotes/victims>.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 754