For the worst crimes, life without parole is better, for many reasons.

I”m against the death penalty but

not because of sympathy for criminals. It doesn’t’t prevent or reduce crime, costs a whole lot more
than life in prison, and, worst of all, risks executions of innocent people.

The worst thing about it. Errors:

The system can make tragic mistakes. In 2004, the state of Texas executed Cameron Todd Willingham
for starting the fire that killed his children. The Texas Forensic Science Commission determined that the
arson testimony that led to his conviction was based on flawed science. As of today, 139 wrongly
convicted people on death row have been exonerated. DNA is rarely available in homicides, often
irrelevant (as in Willingham’s case) and can’t guarantee we won’t execute innocent people. Capital
juries are dominated by people who favor the death penalty and are more likely to vote to convict.

Keeping killers off the streets for good:

Life without parole, on the books in 49 states (all except Alaska), also prevents reoffending. It means
what it says, and spending the rest of your life locked up, knowing you’ll never be free, is no picnic.
Two big advantages:
-an innocent person serving life can be released from prison
-life without parole costs less than the death penalty

Costs, a surprise to many people:

Study after study has found that the death penalty is much more expensive than life in prison. The high
costs of the death penalty are for the complicated legal process, with the largest costs at the pre-trial and
trial stages. The point is to avoid executing innocent people. The tremendous expenses in a death penalty
case apply whether or not the defendant is convicted, let alone sentenced to death.

Crime reduction (deterrence):

The death penalty doesn't keep us safer. Homicide rates for states that use the death penalty are
consistently higher than for those that don’t. The most recent FBI data confirms this. For people who
lack a conscience, fear of being caught is the best deterrent.

Who gets it:

Contrary to popular belief, the death penalty isn't reserved for the worst crimes, but for defendants with
the worst lawyers. It doesn't apply to people with money. Practically everyone sentenced to death had to
rely on an overworked public defender. How many people with money have been executed??

Victims:
People assume that families of murder victims want the death penalty imposed. It isn't necessarily so.
Some are against it on moral grounds. But even families who have supported the death penalty in
principle have testified to the damage that the death penalty process does to families like theirs and that
life without parole is an appropriate alternative.

It comes down to whether we should keep a system for the sake of retribution or revenge even though it
isn’t effective in reducing violent crime, costs much more than alternatives and, worst of all, can lead
to the nightmare of executing someone for a crime he didn’t commit.

COMMENTS

1.You should be thankful - the "against" side is WAY easier to argue, since the facts are on your side.
Here are some points you'll want to make, and the website below has tons of backup info:

- Mistakes happen. Since 1973 in the U.S., 138 people have been released from death row with evidence
of their innocence. These are ALL people who were found guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt." A life
sentence is reversible. An execution is not.
- Cost - because of the legal apparatus designed to minimize wrongful executions (and the enormous
expense of death row incarceration), it costs taxpayers MUCH more to execute someone than to
imprison them for life.

- It is not a deterrent - violent crime rates are consistently HIGHER in death penalty jurisdictions.

- It is inconsistently and arbitrarily applied.

- Because the U.S. is one of the last remaining nations with capital punishment, many other countries
refuse to extradite known criminals who should be standing trial here.

- It fosters a culture of violence by asserting that killing is an acceptable solution to a problem.

- Jesus was against it (see Matthew 5:7 & 5:38-39, James 4:12, Romans 12:17-21, John 8:7, and James
1:20).

- Life without parole (LWOP) is on the books in most states now (all except Alaska), and it means what
it says. People who get this sentence are taken off the streets. For good.

- As Voltaire once wrote, "let the punishments of criminals be useful. A hanged man is good for nothing;
a man condemned to public works still serves the country, and is a living lesson."

- Whether you’re a hardened criminal or a government representing the people, killing another human
being is wrong. Period. “He did it first” is not a valid excuse.

I hope that helps. Good luck in your debate!

2. That's funny, that they're asking you to debate against something that you have no feeling for.
Anyway, there are several points to expand on. The first is actually spiritual, seeing that the USA is a
nation under God, they need to recognize that the death penalty is a sin and that killing someone is
playing God, just like suicide. The other pointers are that the person being put down is actually not
suffering or paying for their crime all that much, because when you're dead, you don't feel anything. If
you're imprisoned and deprived of freedom for the rest of your life, that's worse punishment. The final
one to emphasize is that the death penalty could be served to a criminal which is later found innocent,
which is unforgivable. Finally, the death penalty is murder, committed by the country, they're no better
than the murderers themselves.

There is the obvious: what if it turns out the condemned is innocent.

2. Many people believe the death penalty is state sanctioned murder.

3. What if the family of the victim wishes to confront the convicted for closure and forgiveness. Many
people cannot move on until they do this final step. How can they of the person is dead?
4. No country should be allowed to put its own citizens to death.
5. In the History of the United States Judicial system No wealthy person has ever been put to death.