The death penalty is a necessary form of punishment in the United States. There are several reasons for supporting this controversial issue.



First of all, the overall benefit for society is too great to disregard. Advantages from being able to execute murderers are too great to ignore, and far outweigh the potential risk of sentencing an innocent person to death. Capital punishment has a strong deterrent effect on potential future criminals. Each execution deters between 3 and 18 murders. Therefore, even if the occasional innocent person is sentenced to death, this punishment will in turn save a greater number of lives. Of course, our country carries out the death penalty with the assumption that the convicted person is truly guilty. With this assumption holding true in the vast majority of cases, capital punishment is effective in providing just retribution for the worst of criminals, while deterring future murders.



Capital punishment is the best way to give horrible murderers what they deserve. Do cold-blooded, anonymous murderers of random people deserve any better than to have their life taken in return? The moral answer is no, because this society sets the standard that assaults on human life will not be tolerated. Of course, the murderers would be subject to trial by jury to ensure the suspect's guilt. Death penalties are not taken lightly and the evidence to prove one's guilt must be overwhelming. Though it may take time and money, it is necessary to send the right message of retribution, instead of simply locking a killer away in a prison.



From an economic standpoint, costs of execution are decreasing while the cost of maintaining a prisoner with a life sentence is constantly rising. So much so, that it can no longer be argued that the price of capital punishment is too high.



Many people believe that the death penalty discriminates against minorities. This accusation is completely false.Whites who are arrested for murder are slightly more likely to be sentenced to death than blacks arrested for murder (1.6 percent vs. 1.2 percent). This proves that there is no racial discrimination against minorities.



In conclusion, it is clear that the death penalty must be maintained as a necessary form of punishment for this world's worst criminals.