The death penalty is an outdated, unnecessary, and ridiculous way of dealing with criminals in this country. The death penalty is dangerous, useless for deterring criminals, and more expensive than life without possibility of parole (LWOP).

The death penalty is incredibly dangerous. Of all death-penalty sentences, 68 percent were "found to have a serious error on subsequent appeals." (Scientific American, Feb. 2001) This number is disappointing and four times that of incarceration sentences; the difference is that if you are incarcerated, you are not dead. We cannot afford to be killing our criminals when 68 percent of them will find major errors in the case that is having them killed. Furthermore, of those convicted of murder and sentenced to death, five percent "are later determined to be innocent." (Scientific American, Feb. 2001) This number is incredibly dangerous because it means that 1 in 20 people convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death didn't...