Capital punishment costs more than life without parole. Studies in the US show that capital cases, from arrest to execution, cost between $1 million and $7 million, however a case resulting in life imprisonment costs around $500,000. Shouldn’t we use a better way to use our money than to waste it on issues that does not have a beneficial side?
There is no such thing as a humane method of putting a person to death; every form of execution causes the prisoners to suffer. We should respect the criminals as humans and punish them with methods other than capital punishment. This could give the criminal a second chance, and show them that the society would think of his/her family before killing them as if they should think of their victims and their family before kill. Also it would be a better way to save money and benefit our society. Perhaps some methods could cause less suffering, such as a sentence of imprisonment or to doing community work could also be much more beneficial to our society.
Furthermore, studies have shown that higher execution rates can increase violent crime rates. Reports have showed that during 1852 to 1967, California averaged 6 executions a year, and had twice the murder rate compared with the period from 1968 until 1991 when there were no executions.
Also, there’s a virtual certainty that genuinely innocent people would be executed and that there is no possible way of compensating them for the miscarriage of justice. Defendants who are mentally incompetent often answer "Yes" to questions in the desire to please others. This can lead to false confessions, and innocent people would be killed. Studies have shown over 30 mentally ill people have been executed in the USA since 1976.
On the other hand, some people may think that the principle of capital punishment is that certain murderers deserve nothing less than death as a just, proportionate and effective punishment. They believed that there is no guarantee that these murderers are going to really change themselves, and as the society does not have a perfect solution and somebody is going get hurt, the society should minimize the harm which means therefore, capital punishment cannot be abolished.
In conclusion, I believe that we should abolish Capital Punishment. It removes the individual's humanity and with it any chance of rehabilitation and their giving something back to society. In the case of the worst criminals, this may be acceptable but is more questionable in the case of less awful crimes. We must learn how to forgive, learn that “revenge” is not the best solution to problems and that we should look at different points of view, understand the overall situation and then take action.