There are five different forms of execution in the United States: hanging, electrocution, lethal injection, lethal gas, and firing squad. All of these should be illegal. It does not deter crime, it is a crime, and it encourages violence. It is also very expensive. With the United States struggling with the economy, people are now asking, “Is this the way to spend money?” A California state commission reported that its death penalty system costs more than $100 million a year to administer.
First of all, the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime. There are still criminals who continue breaking the law. In fact, only twenty percent of United States states show evidence that executions do deter crime. The murder rate in non-death penalty states has actually remained consistently lower than in death penalty states and the gap has grown since 1990. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan says, “It is not denied that many, and probably most capital crimes cannot be deterred by the threat of punishment.” On average, states where capital punishment does seem to deter crime tend to execute many more people than in states where there seems to be no deterrent effect. So, only if a state executes many people does deterrence grow.