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- Legality. The United States is one of 55 countries globally with a legal death penalty, according to Amnesty International. As of Mar. 24, 2021, within the US, 27 states had a legal death penalty (though 3 of those states had a moratorium on the punishment’s use).
- Life without Parole. Life without Parole (also called LWOP) is suggested by some as an alternative punishment for the death penalty. PRO. Proponents of replacing the death penalty with life without parole argue that imprisoning someone for the duration of their life is more humane than the death penalty, that LWOP is a more fitting penalty that allows the criminal to think about what they’ve done, and that LWOP reduces the chances of executing an innocent person.
- Deterrence. One of the main justifications for maintaining a death penalty is that the punishment may prevent people from committing crimes so as to not risk being sentenced to death.
- Retribution. Retribution in this debate is the idea that the death penalty is needed to bring about justice for the victims, the victims’ families, and/or society at large.
Mar 24, 2022 · Any decision to keep or do away with the symmetrical justice of the death penalty should be based on the merits of the practice itself, unclouded by complications that should be fixable.
- Differing Views of Death Penalty by Race and Ethnicity, Education, Ideology
- Intraparty Differences in Support For The Death Penalty
- Overwhelming Share of Death Penalty Supporters Say It Is Morally Justified
There are wide ideological differences within both parties on this issue. Among Democrats, a 55% majority of conservatives and moderates favor the death penalty, a position held by just 36% of liberal Democrats (64% of liberal Democrats oppose the death penalty). A third of liberal Democrats strongly oppose the death penalty, compared with just 14%...
Republicans are consistently more likely than Democrats to favor the death penalty, though there are divisions within each party by age as well as by race and ethnicity. Republicans ages 18 to 34 are less likely than other Republicans to say they favor the death penalty. Just over six-in-ten Republicans in this age group (64%) say this, compared wi...
Those who favor the death penalty consistently express more favorable attitudes regarding specific aspects of the death penalty than those who oppose it. For instance, nine-in-ten of those who favor the death penalty also say that the death penalty is morally justified when someone commits a crime like murder. Just 25% of those who oppose the death...
- Reem Nadeem
- Tom Head
- "The Death Penalty Is an Effective Deterrent" This is probably the most common argument in favor of capital punishment, and there's actually some evidence that the death penalty may be a deterrent to homicide, but it's a very expensive deterrent.
- "The Death Penalty is Cheaper Than Feeding a Murderer for Life" According to the Death Penalty Information Center, independent studies in several states, including Oklahoma, reveal that capital punishment is actually far more expensive to administer than life imprisonment.
- "Murderers Deserve to Die" Many Americans share this view, while others oppose the death penalty no matter the crime committed. Death penalty opponents also note that the government is an imperfect human institution and not an instrument of divine retribution.
- "The Bible Says 'An Eye for an Eye'" Actually, there is little support in the Bible for the death penalty. Jesus, who himself was sentenced to death and legally executed, had this to say (Matthew 5:38-48)
Society has always used punishment to discourage would-be criminals from unlawful action. Since society has the highest interest in preventing murder, it should use the strongest punishment available to deter murder, and that is the death penalty.
Oct 15, 2024 · Pro: public support. Although use of the death penalty is gradually declining in the US, a 2023 survey by Gallup found a majority of Americans (53%) remain "in favour of the death penalty for a...
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Jan 20, 2021 · The death penalty has been abolished in 22 states and 106 countries, yet it is still legal at the federal level in the United States. Does your state or country allow the death penalty? Do...
