Death penalty: a punishment of death to someone that has committed a capital punishment. Thirty-one out of the fifty states accept the death penalty as a punishment. These thirty-one states have five different ways of execution: lethal injection (which is the most common form of execution), electrocution, gas inhalation, hanging, and firing squad. The death penalty has been a problem in American society. Supporters argue that the death penalty prevents crime from happening. Opposers, on the other hand, believe that capital punishment is cruel and unusual punishment and it does not prevent crime. The death penalty is unjust and should be unconstitutional. Humans have no right to determine another human’s life.

Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Knowing the specific date they are going to die, inmates are mentally tortured. They are also being tortured by getting killed in general.

Costs way too much: California spent an average of $4 billion on executing people since 1978. Due to them being executed and not being able to pay for the trials and court costs the taxpayers have to pay the costs. the cost of capital punishment is 2-3 times more than if the death penalty did not exist

Innocent people can be executed and the government not even know they were executed: 156 innocent have been released since 1973, some spending 30 years on death row. The only way to know if innocent people are getting executed, is to eliminate the death penalty completely.

Rebuttal: The deterrence argument says that the death penalty prevents murders. Although the killer will not strike again, but life in prison could also prevent the killer from striking again. Also supporters of the death penalty argue that it stops murders from happening period because the potential murderers fear of dying. Everyone does risks in their life such as, driving a car, swimming, smoking etc. It would be different if every murderer got executed, then people would probably not kill.