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Each year in America there are about 250 people added to death row and 35 executed. The death penalty is the harshest form of punishment in the United States today. Once the jury has proved a criminal guilty they go to the second part of the trial – the punishment phase. Lethal injection is the most common form of death.

Capital Punishment is a difficult issue and there are as many different opinions as there are people. In this country Capital Punishment is not allowed but in America it is legal.

I think that Capital Punishment should be made illegal in America. The reasons I think that this should be illegal are. Firstly – it is possible to execute someone who is innocent. If this does happen it cannot be undone – whereas if they had been put in jail they could be released and given compensation. Secondly I think that death penalty is almost not a punishment because you are not around to be punished like if you were in jail with the poor living conditions and no freedom.

Another reason I think that Capital Punishment should be made illegal is that life imprisonment without parole serves the same purposes as this at less cost. Right now, to execute someone in The U.S it costs approximately three times the amount it would to have them serve a life sentence in prison. The money used to pay for the death row (including court appeals) comes out of the taxpayer’s wallets. If Capital Punishment was made illegal, this money could go to other projects in need of the funds like – building new prisons.

A few weeks ago in Britain, a man was released from prison who was wrongly accused of committing murder. He had been sentenced to life imprisonment, for this murder. While he was in prison he always maintained he was innocent. It took years on campaigning while he was in prison to prove that he actually was innocent. If such a crime like this had been committed in America he could have been put on death row and been executed. If later on they found out he was innocent there would be nothing they could do to bring him back to life. In Britain the man was released and given compensation. There have been cases in America where innocent people have been executed, and this is the main reason I think it should be illegal.

I hope most of you will now see the reasons why capital punishment is a waste of time and should not be made legal.

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