My American Creed

What is the death penalty? The death penalty is a punishment created to punish people who have done horrible things such as kill or torture others. What are your thoughts on a thing like this?

I believe the death penalty is necessary for the fact that if someone decides to kill someone out of spite or anger, they deserve such a punishment as this. Many that I have interviewed in my community about this topic, along with myself, agree with this; stating, if someone decides to take another person's life out of spite, anger, or revenge, this is the appropriate punishment. I do not think the criminal justice system should give someone the punishment, if they do not know for a fact the person is guilty. I think they should know for sure, with hard, strong evidence before they give this punishment, but the people who are proven guilty of this type of crime should be put on death row. If someone shoots someone out of self defense, I do not think this deserves the death penalty. Some people may think that just because they only did wrong once, they deserve mercy and should be given a second chance. But, why should they receive mercy for their lives when they decided not to give the person they killed or did horrible things too, the same mercy? Don’t you agree that these people deserve the same treatment that they gave?

Also, why should people who are just sitting in jail, get more money spent on them for their living expenses by the state, than most people who haven’t done criminal activity? American citizens pay their taxes to the state and government for convicted criminals to have better living conditions in prison, who do not deserve it, instead of us being able to keep a little bit of extra tax money to make life a little more comfortable.

Statistics prove the highest percentage of the death penalty punishments are for the killing of a child, drug trafficking, rape and other major crimes. I have asked fellow church members, a few school mates, teachers, and my father about the death penalty and all agree that the electric chair and hanging should be the most used form of punishment and government should bring back the use of the electric chair, for the fact that if people do such wrong to get the death penalty then they should be made to suffer. Mississippi was one of the first two states in the nation to allow the electric chair when it was still legal but eventually thought to be too cruel of a punishment and was banned from being used.

There are some valid arguments against the death penalty. Some of the death row prisoners were found innocent after their death; therefore, some believe capital punishment should be eliminated I do agree that when someone is given the death penalty then the court system should have hard evidence against the person who is thought to be guilty before this decision is made. With technology, police can more accurately know they have the right person and not falsely accuse someone.

Another major problem with people and the death penalty is the amount of time convicts spend on death row waiting for their punishment. Some prisoners may wait up to fifty years sitting in a prison cell, which I think is unfair. This is a waste of tax money supporting the prisoner’s needs as well as the lack of immediate justice for the victim’s family.