Have you ever wondered if the death penalty should be legal in the U.S?

People have many different opinions about the death penalty. Some people think it’s too harsh and inhumane to kill criminals for the crimes they’ve done. Others think that criminals should pay the price for their crimes especially if the crimes are bad. The death penalty should be legal in the U.S. It can decrease the crime rate/prevent future criminals from committing a crime. If the U.S stopped enforcing the death penalty then we would be giving up getting justice for the victim's families. If the death penalty gets abolished then that could bolden criminals and in doing so they would commit more crimes. 

To begin with, the death penalty can decrease the crime rate and prevent future criminals from committing a crime. Let's say a criminal murdered someone, the criminal took a life and deserves to pay the price and the punishment should be the death penalty. When future criminals see that they’ve been put up for the death penalty they may think twice about committing any type of crime. If I may add once you commit a crime that is terrible and the death penalty is necessary, it can drive a person insane. This also may scare any future criminal from committing a terrible crime. There is no evidence that the death penalty decreases the crime rate. States that have death penalty laws do not have lower crime rates or murder rates than states without such laws “The Death Penalty: Questions and Answers” ACLU. Some criminals do not care about their life and may commit a crime that is terrible and not care at all.  There are a lot of people who are messed up in the head and will just commit a crime because they want to or because they “love the adrenaline.”

Moreover, If the U.S stopped enforcing the death penalty on criminals then the victim's families would not get justice. If the U.S abolished the death penalty then how would the victim's family members “avenge” them or get justice? They would want the criminal to have a cruel punishment for taking their loved one from them. The victim's families may not want the criminal to have the death penalty as that is an “easy way out”, they would want the criminal to suffer and pay the price, therefore, having the criminal serve his time in prison. The death penalty also uses millions of dollars. “It wastes millions of dollars that could go toward much-needed victims services” “Victims Families” Death Penalty Information Center.

Moving on, if the death penalty were to be abolished wouldn't that just push criminals to do more crimes? If the U.S were to abolish the death penalty then criminals would take advantage and commit crimes, any type of crime and they wouldn't have to worry about death. Doing so, it’s like saying criminals are free to do anything they want without a harsh punishment and that is not the case. Not to sound harsh but using the death penalty on criminals that have committed terrible crimes could save money because they wouldn't have to spend money on their food or materials for them. Adding on to families getting justice, the families would feel at peace if the criminal is sentenced to the death penalty and is deceased.

The death penalty should be abolished, it goes against human rights and that is the right to life. “Evidence shows that the death penalty has no impact on public safety” Tierney, Diann “The death penalty should be abolished” Lush. Also, the cost of using the death penalty is a lot. Using it constantly for all the criminals that have done terrible crimes can add more debt to the U.S and it already has a lot. It also is just a waste of money because using the death penalty, the criminals get an easy way out, instead of having them imprisoned for a long time will make them suffer. If we don't use the death penalty against these crazy criminals then how are they going to learn their lesson? This will only urge criminals as there is no punishment. If a criminal takes a life or something worse then they have lost their rights as a human being and should pay the price, “an eye for an eye”.

The death penalty can have many pros and cons to it. For instance, it can decrease the crime rate when used. If it was abolished in the U.S families would not get justice for their loved ones that were a victim. It may urge criminals if it was abolished too. We need to keep asking ourselves if the death penalty should still be legal or illegal, the world is changing every second and new threats may come. With the world evolving especially new technology, new threats will be coming to the world and we need always keep this question in mind “does the death penalty actually help?”.  This is important to remember because people need to see if the death penalty impacts society in a positive way or in a negative way.