In 2005 about 2213 people were executed in the world. I am against capital punishment. Here are the three main reasons. Firstly, some people were executed even though they were innocent. Secondly, it is ineffective since the number of crimes has not gone down after capital punishment. Lastly, religious groups think it is cruel to execute people.
There have been cases where innocent people were executed. Statistics show that about 24 people out of 400 death row inmates were found out not to be guilty. In 1959, Steven Truscott of Ontario was convicted of murdering his 12-year-old schoolmate. He was sentenced to be hung at the age of 14! On August 28, 2007, 48 years later, the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned the conviction. If prisoners are discovered to be blameless, they can be freed. But neither release nor compensation is possible for a dead body.
The actual crime rate has not gone down since the reinstallation of capital punishment in 1976. Countries that no longer have the death penalty haven't had an increase in the number of murders. This is because most criminals who commit a crime do not calculate what will follow their action. Which proves that capital punishment is ineffective.
Almost all religious groups believe that an execution of a human being is cruel. Christianity says that God is the creator and giver of life. No one else has the right to destroy another human being's life. We can believe that there is a power greater than us that governs life and death.
Overall, I think each criminal should be given a second chance. If we let the criminals live, they would get a chance to repay the damage they have made on our society.
