Robert M. Morgenthau

About the author: Robert M. Morgenthau is the district attorney of Manhattan.

The death penalty is popular among politicians and the public in response to the escalating fear of violence. However, capital punishment actually makes the fight against crime more difficult. Executions waste valuable resources that could be applied to more promising efforts to protect the public. Additionally, innocent people are sometimes executed and the brutalizing effect executions have on society may result in more murders. For these reasons, the death penalty should be opposed.

People concerned about the escalating fear of violence, as I am, may believe that capital punishment is a good way to combat that trend. Take it from someone who has spent a career in Federal and state law enforcement, enacting the death penalty in...