Arguments Against Death Penalty Arguments commonly made to abolish the death penalty are: Death constitutes "cruel

and unusual punishment," which is prohibited under the Constitution. Also, the various means use to kill a criminal are cruel. The death penalty is used disproportionately against the poor, who cannot afford expensive legal counsel, as well as against racial, ethnic and religious minorities. The death penalty is applied arbitrarily and inconsistently. Wrongly convicted, innocent people have received death penalty sentences, and tragically, were killed by the state. A rehabilitated criminal can make a morally valuable contribution to society.

Killing human life is morally wrong under all circumstances. Some faith groups, such as the Roman Catholic Church, oppose the death penalty as not being "pro-life." Those who believe that deterrence justifies the execution of certain offenders bear the burden of proving that the death penalty is a deterrent. The death penalty is not a deterrent because most people who commit murders either do not expect to be caught or do not carefully weigh the differences between a possible execution and life in prison before they act. There is no conclusive proof that the death penalty acts as a better deterrent than the threat of life imprisonment.

Retribution is another word for revenge. Although our first instinct may be to inflict immediate pain on someone who wrongs us, the standards of a mature society demand a more measured response. The emotional impulse for revenge is not a sufficient justification for invoking a system of capital punishment, with all its accompanying problems and risks. Our laws and criminal justice system should lead us to higher principles that demonstrate a complete respect for life, even the life of a murderer. The death penalty alone imposes an irrevocable sentence. Once an inmate is executed, nothing can be done to make amends if a mistake has been made. Almost all defendants facing the death penalty cannot afford their own attorney. Hence, they are dependent on the quality of the lawyers assigned by the state, many of whom lack experience in capital cases or are so underpaid that they fail to investigate the case properly. A poorly represented defendant is much more likely to be convicted and given a death sentence.

10 Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty

Innocence and the Death Penalty
The wrongful execution of an innocent person is an injustice that can never be rectified. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty, 139 men and women have been released from death row nationally.

The High Cost of the Death Penalty

It costs far more to execute a person than to keep him or her in prison for life.

Death Penalty Can Prolong Suffering for Victims' Families

Many family members who have lost love ones to murder feel that the death penalty will not heal their wounds nor will it end their pain; the extended legal process prior to executions can prolong the agony experienced by the victims' families.

International Views on the Death Penalty

The vast majority of countries in Western Europe, North America and South America - more than 139 nations worldwide - have abandoned capital punishment in law or in practice.

Inadequate Legal Representation

Perhaps the most important factor in determining whether a defendant will receive the death penalty is the quality of the representation he or she is provided.

Deterrence
Scientific studies have consistently failed to demonstrate that executions deter people from committing crime anymore than long prison sentences.

Arbitrariness in the Application of the Death Penalty

Politics, quality of legal counsel and the jurisdiction where a crime is committed are more often the determining factors in a death penalty case than the facts of the crime itself.

Religious Perspectives on the Death Penalty

Although isolated passages of religious scripture have been quoted in support of the death penalty, almost all religious groups in the United States regard executions as immoral.

Racial Disparities
The race of the victim and the race of the defendant in capital cases are major factors in determining who is sentenced to die in this country. In 1990 a report from the General Accounting Office concluded that "in 82 percent of the studies [reviewed], race of the victim was found to influence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder or receiving the death penalty, i.e. those who murdered whites were more likely to be sentenced to death than those who murdered blacks."

Alternatives to the Death Penalty

In every state that retains the death penalty, jurors have the option of sentencing convicted capital murderers to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The sentence is cheaper to tax-payers and keeps violent offenders off the streets for good.