Some Convincing Arguments against the Death Penalty

One of the leading arguments against the death penalty is that 70% of the public support it while 70% of the executioners who actively put inmates to death are against it.

From a moral point of view, from the moment we are born we are taught to value life while the government legally kills people.

Practically speaking, it was proven without any doubt that capital punishment has not helped decrease crime rates. Its deterrent value is at best doubtful. To stress this point even further, it turns out that crime rate in states without capital punishment is lower than states where people are put to death for severe crimes.

So why do states choose to legally send people to die (There are currently 31 states in the U.S. where capital punishment is legal)?

The main reason is desire for vengeance against those who committed grave crimes. Many people conceive justice in biblical terms of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. It seems that they have forgotten that our legal system has progressed since the days of the Bible.

Some US statistics

Since 1976, 1,446 were put to death in the United States, 4 people in 2017. Only 16 women were executed. Of all defendants executed, 55.7% are White, 43.4% are Black, 8.2% are Hispanic. The top 3 states with the largest numbers of executions are Texas (540), Oklahoma (112) and Virginia (112). As of 2016, the state with the largest number of defendants in Death Row is California (741).

Worldwide statistics

According to Amnesty International, no less than 1,634 people were put to death in 25 countries around the globe in the course of 2015. Most of the executions took place in China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the USA. 20,292 defendants were on death row in that year. The good news is that on that year 4 countries decide to abolish capital punishment: the Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Suriname and Fiji.