Dear Future President,

Many controversial issues are present in today’s society, most of which you are aware of; a very important one to me is the use of capital punishment. Capital punishment is the legal authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime. It is controversial because many people believe it is immoral and unfair, while others think that it is a justifiable punishment for those who commit serious crimes.

Many people consider capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, to be a fair action made towards criminals. One reason behind this is justice. Many believe that those who kill innocent civilians should not be allowed to live another day. The use of death penalty can enforce the laws in place and remind those that murder goes against those laws. Punishment enforces laws and threatens those who disobey them. Those who go unpunished will continue with illegal behavior.

On the other hand, some believe that the death penalty is like revenge and is just as cruel as the crime committed. Those wrongly accused of the crime can be sentenced to life in prison or death. The Death Penalty Information Center stated how more than 150 inmates were released from death row when proved innocent. The unequal enforcement of this law is also unfair. In states such as California, Texas, and Florida, the death penalty is in place, with California holding the highest number of inmates on death row, an astonishing seven hundred and forty-one. However, in other states like Maine, New York, and Illinois, capital punishment is illegal. In 2014, the FBI Uniform Crime Report described how 88 percent of criminologists reject the notion that the death penalty acts as a deterrent to crime.

Capital punishment began many years ago when people had no other ways of punishment. Is it really fair to kill criminals when some are proven innocent? If we kill them are we really any more morally correct than those who committed the crime? An eye for an eye, as many people call it, costs us the lives of some innocent civilians. If set in place, I would like this law to be equal across all the states. I believe that similar crimes should have identical punishment. All things in life cannot be fair; however, when it is costing the lives of some but not others, equality needs to be enforced.

Sincerely,

Emily Guiteras