Argumentative Essay Sample on Death Penalty: Pros and Cons

Just like the debate on the legalization of marijuana, the death penalty has elicited mixed feelings on all citizens globally. There are those who strongly argue that capital offenders must be sentenced to death. In America, for example, crime has become a national disaster. What makes the matter worse is that incarceration has done very little to correct wayward behavior. In the recent past, national authorities have embraced correctional policies in a bid to persuade citizens to stop engaging in criminal activities.

When viewed from this lens, one may contend that the death penalty is the sole sure way of deterring would-be criminals from capital crime. On the other continuum of this dilemma are civil rights bodies and humanitarian groups. Everybody understands that human life is sacred and that it should be treated as such. In addition to this, every national constitution has a universal clause that seeks to protect human life. Considering this simple truth, it emerges that the death penalty is neither advantageous nor prejudicial.

At the same time, the death penalty keeps on dividing people all over the globe. To those supporting this kind of punishment, it is the most suitable way to make people hold responsibility for what they do. The individuals, who don’t think that capital punishment is an effective deterrent for the worst crimes, find it costly and inhumane. It is on this point that opinions differ.

Common dissertations written by students take the form of persuasive essay on the death penalty. As a rule, they include the pros and cons of the issue.
When writing such an essay, one must provide a background to the topic. The next step is to take a position, either to support or refute the notion of imposing the death penalty. It is important to provide the reasons for the position that are followed by a counter-argument, with a range of supporting reasons.

To illustrate the basic elements of a college persuasive essay on the pros and cons of the death penalty, check the sample provided below:
Serious offenses like murder and rape generally attract the punishment called “the death penalty” or “the capital punishment.” It is perceived that in executing the death penalty, serious offenses are denounced. We cannot deny the fact that crime is highly prevalent in modern societies. This leaves innocent citizens with a profound fear of robbery attacks, beastly rapes, and murders.
More often than not, for example, the victims of horrible rapes are children and elderly women. The pain of losing a loved one or a close colleague to violent robbers and murderers is so unbearable that people are looking for justice, hoping that the murderers would pay the highest price for what they have done – their own lives.

A lot of opponents of capital punishment insist on capital punishment being pointless since it has zero preventive effect on crime, wrongly providing authorities with the right to take people’s lives. What is more, those who are against the capital punishments say that it actually maintains social injustices by targeting individuals who can’t afford a proficient attorney or belong to different races.

Let us take a closer look at the pros and cons of the death penalty in order to see who is actually wrong and who is right.
Going into detail of the pros of capital punishment, we should note that it is very worrying that the people who commit these heinous crimes have been in and out jail several times. Thus, it helps very little if the court system keeps sentencing a serial murderer to imprisonment. Imposing a death penalty will clean all killers and rapists from society. It might sound irreligious to sentence an offender to death. However, the reality is that disobedience to laws is denounced in all religions.

At the same time, capital punishment deters lawbreakers from committing serious crimes. What is it that every human being is afraid of? Losing their life! For that reason, knowing that you’re going to be sentenced to death for what you do might deter criminals from carrying out the most serious crimes.

Let’s face it – many victims or their families tend to find peace in passing sentence. The death penalty appeases them and gives them a sense of some sort of closure. This, in turn, helps people get over what has happened and get back to normal life.

This might sound a little weird, but the death penalty is the most humane and quick way to punish criminals for the worst crimes. The reality is that all the methods of execution are painless at the moment, which means all the arguments about the cruelty of the capital punishments do not correspond to reality.

Capital punishment adds to world violence. The reality is that revenge is just another form of violence or crime that is justified by the law. In other words, two wrongs are not going to make a right, no matter how hard you try to justify the death penalty. The argument for capital punishment is that killing someone is wrong. Thus, you have to kill someone for killing someone else. This, in turn, makes zero sense.

In his “Essay on Criticism,” Alexander Pope says, “To err is human; to forgive, divine.” The justice system is no exception – everyone happens to be wrong more often than not. And if this or that person is wrongly imprisoned, they can get free. However, in the case of the wrongful death penalty, nothing can be changed.

And as for the money, capital punishment is expensive. When we take into consideration all the legal and practical costs, it can be concluded that capital punishment is not cost-effective at all, which means imprisoning for life has more sense.

When we consider all the characteristics of the execution and a life spent in prison, it is clear that the latter is a worse punishment even for the most horrible crimes. An individual facing a life sentence is about to spend many years in an enclosed space. They will endure their punishment until the end of their days in the company of the most hardened criminals. Every single day will be the same – nothing else, but the constant reflection on his or her crimes.

When it comes to religion, solid religious arguments that do not support capital punishment exist. In particular, people believe that life is a gift from God, which means no one can take it away.
To conclude, here’s what we all have to think about – if a person does not have respect for life, then why should others respect his/her life? Is it okay to see our young girls lose their dignity to insufferable criminals, who have no justification for the acts they commit? Without a doubt, we all have our points of view on the issues related to capital punishment. However, there’s a simple truth – if someone decides to commit a serious crime, this person has to be ready to face the consequences. In other words – let everyone take responsibility for their actions and deal with what comes after.