Why Do We Kill People to Show That Killing People Is Wrong?

There are times when murder is not committed because of cruelty. People may kill for other reasons such as anger, misun­derstanding, and fear. Everyone has made mistakes because of such feelings. For soci­ety, it is a serious mistake to take the life of someone who has killed because it teaches everyone that forgiveness is unnecessary.

The government has the difficult job of deciding who is innocent and who is guilty, and this job can never be done perfectly. If capital punishment is allowed, there always exists the possibility that an innocent per­son will be executed by mistake. When that happens, an even worse crime has been committed—the killing of an innocent per­son by the government. Then there is the fact that the poor and minorities get the death penalty more often than whites do. Furthermore, the idea that capital punish­ment stops criminals from committing mur­der is doubtful; studies have been unable to show that the fear of capital punishment stops someone from committing murder more than other punishments. And let us not forget that murdering the murderer is a violent act in itself; it is revenge.

The U.S. government once followed the example of Germany, Britain, France, and other nations that no longer execute their citizens—however, since 1977, our society has been allowing capital punishment again, at a high cost. We cannot imagine the pain of family members who have been waiting for years for the government's deci­sion to execute or not execute their loved ones. It also costs the taxpayer millions of dollars more to execute a criminal than to imprison that criminal for life. Prison is a better form of punishment because it pro­tects society and punishes criminals by tak­ing away their freedom.

People can change, even people who have made terrible mistakes. Life in prison gives people the chance to change. Caryl Chess­man is an example of someone who became a better person in prison. He taught other prisoners how to read, and he wrote several books. Before his execution, he wrote that he had finally learned not to hate.

Chessman learned this important lesson in prison. But a dead man learns nothing, and an executed person will never change. When a government kills, it is murdering hope.