Capital Punishment

One of the greatest controversies of our time that we know today has always been whether or not to tolerate capital punishment, such as the death penalty and torture, in our society, as well as whether to practice it or not. Not only is capital punishment a huge controversy in itself, but toleration of it in our society makes it an even more controversial issue. There are many pros and cons to be compared, as well as many arguments and counter arguments to be understood when analyzing capital punishment.
 
Someone who supports the tolerance of capital punishment would argue that the pros of the death penalty outweigh the cons in many circumstances. They argue that it is better to put someone to death that puts others to death, so that he will no longer be a danger to the society that he resides. They also state that it is easier financially to just put someone to death and be done with it rather than support them in prison for the rest of their lives, and that execution is much easier than the numerous trials that come with keeping someone alive in prison for a long period of time without putting them to death. Without knowing both sides of the argument it seems as though putting someone to death would be easier in most circumstances. Another common argument for justifying the death penalty is that the victim or the victim’s family and or friends will feel at ease knowing that they paid the consequences, and they feel as though the retribution they are seeking is a justified vengeance. However, it has been recorded in numerous circumstances that the victim’s family feels little to no difference in terms of the consequences of the criminal after putting them to death rather than seeing him rot in prison for the rest of his days. Although when you weigh both sides, you can analyze why keeping someone alive rather than putting someone to death is just as if not more effective for everyone involved.

The cons of the death penalty argue that if you want someone put to death you are just as guilty for wanting to take a life as the criminal that takes a life, and demonstrates that one’s morality should be taken into consideration and although the death penalty could argue equality for consequences, someone who opposes the death penalty would argue that it is hypocritical to want to take a life of someone who takes lives. In terms of government spending, experts have actually found that it is less expensive to support a criminal individual in prison for the rest of their life than it is to put them on death row to be executed. Most people do not take this factor into consideration because this does not appear to be so when one thinks of putting someone to death as being a somewhat a simple process, however this is not the case. It has been measured that putting someone to death by the United States federal death penalty costs approximately two million dollars which is four times more expensive than keeping someone alive in prison for the rest of their days, which is approximately five hundred thousand per individual. However, most people do not realize this in making their decision on whether to be for or against the death penalty, and act out of ignorance on the topic. The reason this is true is because of the numerous trials by juries while someone is on death row before execution. Another reason a good number of people oppose the death penalty is because sometimes the numerous trials may not be enough and a convicted criminal could be found innocent after their execution. This has happened in a number of circumstances when new evidence is found after a trail that could potentially change the course of the trial, but if it is not done in time, an innocent person will be put to death for no reason, which is the reason for a lot of the resentment of capital punishment.