Death Penalty: A Fair Punishment?

In today's society when someone commits an unthinkable crime they are often sentenced to death. The death penalty has been used for thousands of years. In the years long ago they would take someone and hang them or shoot them if they were found guilty and punishment was to be death. The death sentence was carried out as soon as the ruling was made. There were no appeals and years of free room and board. IF a person was sentenced to die they did just that. Today criminals on death row usually die of natural causes while they are waiting for the appeals process to be exhausted. During this time they are living on the tax payers dollar. They are provided three nutritious meals a day ,and have complete medical and dental coverage. While millions of hard working people who never committed a crime in their life have no health coverage at all. Why is this considered to be a fair punishment? Should the death penalty be carried out as soon as the verdict is read, or should we allow the criminals to live on our dollars for the rest of their lives?

The death penalty is suppose to deter criminals from carrying out terrible crimes like murder ,or rape, by scaring them with the thought of dying. Yet crime is up at an all time high. Everyday there are stories on every news program about the very crimes the death penalty is suppose to stop. Why is the death penalty a failure at stopping crime? Could it be the criminals know they will most likely never be put to death at the hands of the judicial system? Or maybe they are tired of working and barely scraping by and like the thoughts of being cared for .Criminals never have to worry about whether they will have a meal or if they will have enough money to pay the heat bill. They are provided with all the basics a person could need. They are provided free legal while they drag out all the appeals. There needs to be changes done when it concerns the death penalty .

People will argue that the death penalty is often given when the person is innocent. While this may happen on occasion it is becoming more and more rare. Technology allows for better testing of the evidence and DNA. Most of the cases of a person being sentenced to death wrongly are from before the times of DNA testing. Others will argue the death penalty is a cruel and unusual punishment. What do they think the crime was ? The death penalty is a supervised act that is usually very quick. A majority of the victims were not given a quick and easy death. They were tortured and suffered until their last breath.

Persons convicted and sentenced to death are locked up in a cell for 23 hours a day .They never have to worry about someone hurting them .Most will never even face the punishment of death they were given. If they do, they will know exactly when they will die and have the chance to say goodbye to their loved ones. Something they never allowed their victims and families to do. Why is this a fair punishment? Should people sentenced to the death penalty be given the same unfortunate fate they gave their victims? Why don't we make criminals on death row be guinea pigs for medical experiments for new drugs and procedure that might help someone? Why should they be allowed to sit in a cell and live off the tax payers dollar for the rest of their lives? They should be made to work 23 hours a day, and not just doing laundry and cooking. Should the death penalty be carried out right away and then we wouldn't have the problems of criminals sentenced to death never receiving their punishment?

I used to be a firm believer in the death penalty,but as the years go by and I see how the criminals have more rights than innocent people,I have changed my mind. If the punishment was carried out right away then it might be different. I think there needs to be some other type of punishment then being cared for the rest of their lives. They need to stop thinking about the prisoner's rights and consider the rights that were taken away from their victims. What do you think about the death penalty? Do you think there needs to be changes, or do you think the current system is fine?

Feel free to leave your opinions on the death penalty below.