In the last 15 years, the United States has executed about 300 people across the country. These people were convicted of some of the most violent crimes a person can commit. That being said, the death penalty is a very flawed system in the United States. The death penalty on average costs about $2 million more dollars than it would to incarcerate them for life (McLaughlin 688). There also isn't much need for the death penalty today. Modern day prisons are very technologically advanced and have the ability to safely keep high-risk prisoners locked up (Drehle 31-32). The death penalty has also caused a lot of stress and cost a lot of time for the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has even banned the death penalty before but retracted that ban just four years later (Drehle 32). The crime rate in the United States has also been steadily dropping since the 1990's, suggesting that there isn't as much of a need for the death penalty anymore (Drehle 31). The death penalty has caused many problems in the US over the years. The death penalty is too costly, unnecessary, and is failing as a scare tactic at this point in time and for that reason should be abolished. 

The first reason the United States should abolish the death penalty is because there isn't a need for it anymore, and there's not much reason for it. During biblical times, people were executed for many more reasons than they are today, but there was also meaning behind an execution. When people were executed in biblical times they were seen as sacrifices to the Gods (Gardiner 33). When a person is executed today, it is never meant as a sacrifice like it was during biblical times. In some cases people may be put to death to help further a judge's career. When a judge issues the death sentence, it is going to draw a lot of media attention. This can be good for the judge if he or she plans to move on to a more important position, because a lot of that media attention will be on the judges themselves (Gardiner 32). The death sentence also used to be given because prisons didn't have the security to hold murderous inmates. So, the death penalty was sometimes necessary in order to keep the peace within prisons and to prevent these dangerous criminals from doing more crime. Today's prisons don't have this trouble anymore though. With modern technology and more staff, the United States has been able to build prisons that can house life without parole inmates safely (Drehle 31-32). There also isn't much need for the death penalty anymore because it's not as effective of a scare tactic as it used to be. It was originally intended to scare criminals from committing certain crimes for fear of death. Unfortunately, the fear of death isn't stopping criminals from committing terrible crimes. So, for these reasons, the need for the death sentence is drastically going down. There is no point in killing someone when the United States can safely keep them in prison where they have a chance at rehabilitation. 

It is commonly thought that putting someone to death is cheaper than incarcerating someone for life. If the United States were to put someone in prison for life, tax payers will be paying for that person to be fed and taken care of by the state, so naturally it seems as though that would be more expensive than putting someone to death. This would be the case if hangings and other older ways of putting someone to death were still practiced, but those ways of putting someone to death are not used anymore. The methods used today to put someone to death are actually much more expensive than it would be to incarcerate that person. Many studies have been done to determine the cost of putting someone to death compared to just imprisoning them, and it has been found that in most cases, it costs millions more to put someone to death. In the state of Florida, for example, it costs roughly $600,000 to incarcerate someone for life. It would cost the state of Florida nearly $3.2 million to put that same person to death (McLaughlin 688). This is a huge margin between the two, and when looking at these numbers, it makes no sense to continue to put people to death. The margins are similar in many other states as well for example in North Carolina it costs $2.16 million more to put someone to death (McLaughlin 688). In a study by a Duke University professor found that the state of North Carolina could save $11 million annually just by ending the death penalty (Drehle 32). By eliminating the death penalty, states could save taxpayers millions annually, or the states could use the money to better other areas such as school systems. The death penalty is nothing more at this point than a waste of money because it costs much more than putting someone in prison for life, and as discussed earlier, we now have the ability to safely put people in prison for life without parole without having to worry about the safety of others.

In 1972, the Supreme Court banned capital punishment in the United States. The death penalty was banned because at the time it was far too random of a process. At the time, no one knew what got someone put on death row, it was completely up to the judge. One Justice said that getting the death penalty was as random as being struck by lightning. It was quickly brought back in 1976 with the goal of helping judges better issue the death penalty and make it much less random. Still, that being said, ever since then, the death penalty has been a very pressing issue for the Supreme Court. The support for capital punishment is constantly fluctuating with the crime rate. When crime is low, not as many people support the death penalty, but when crime rates are high many people are in favor of having the death penalty (Drehle 32). This makes it extremely hard for the Supreme Court judges to have a general consensus on capital punishment. If the death penalty were to be eliminated then the Supreme Court would have to deal with a lot less stress than they currently do now because of the death penalty.  

Since the 1990's crime rates in the United States have been dropping steadily. In the year of 1990, there were 2,200 murders committed in New York City alone. Since then the number has dropped to 300 murders a year. In the 90's support for the death penalty was at about 80%, and since then that number has dropped to 60%. With that much of a crime rate drop there seems to be no need for the death penalty. Seven states have gotten rid of the death penalty since 2007 and many more are working towards the ban of the death penalty (Drehle 31). It makes sense to ban the death penalty now while crime rates are low and continuing to drop. States will have the most support from people voting on it if crime rates are low. 

The death penalty today is unnecessary in the United States. It cost taxpayers millions every year, because it is so much more expensive than sending someone to jail for life. It also isn't necessary at this point due to the increase in security in prisons. Technology allows for high-risk prisoners to be held much more safely than they used to be. It's also become a hassle for the Supreme Court to deal with. No matter what decision they make there's always a group of people that are upset. The way to make the most people happy would be to eliminate the death penalty. Finally crime rates in the United States are dropping since the 1980's and 1990's. The death penalty isn't needed as a scare tactic anymore. All the death penalty is meant to do is scare people and it's pointless to put all this time and money into a scare tactic. 

