As we turn on radios and televisions, and even when we open the local newspaper today, we are bombarded with news of arrests, murders, homicides, and other such tragedies. There are many things I don"t agree with in today's society but, out of the wrongdoing that takes place, I believe murder including the death penalty is the worst of them. I am strongly against the death penalty because it violates "God's commandments", costs the taxpayers too much money, the possible "wrongly accused," and it is cruel and unusual punishment.
I do not support having the death penalty because it violates religious beliefs. Many religions such as my own, Christian, follow the rules that God sent to use through the Ten Commandments. One of the more important commandments states, "Thou shall not Kill." If you are executing an individual, that clearly violates this commandment. Murdering any person, no matter what the individual has been convicted of, is a moral sin. I believe that religious beliefs, such as the Ten Commandments, are the cornerstone for our law system.
My next reason against the death penalty is that taxpayers waste too much money with the death penalty. In statistics revealed, as of June first, 2000, 38 states authorized the death penalty, and 12 states have chosen to keep the death penalty banned. 4,520 sentences had been carried out through these 38 states as of 2000, and 3,679 were on death row awaiting prosecution. (Clark Prosecutor).
The average death penalty case is appealed three times. This means the taxpayers must pay for the same case to be heard three different times. This is a very expensive practice, and the average convicted murder spends about 12 years on death row. If supporters of the death penalty are positive enough to kill the person for committing the crime, shouldn"t the supporters be confident enough to kill the person in a timely manner? The taxpayers continue paying for the inmates jail time, when in the end they are also paying for the execution.