The death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment. It angers me that we live in a place that comes up with excuses as to why it is okay to kill people of our own kind. There are many other alternates as to what can happen to these criminals, and often times, being sentenced to a life imprisonment is more of a consequence than being put to death. After compiling all of my research, I am going to present an alternative solution which would be life imprisonment to stop such crimes. With having many things test my values in life, I have found that my values are based off of my religious views. I look at the Bible passages on grace and forgiveness such as "do not repay anyone evil for evil" (Romans 12:17) which concludes that the government should restrain criminals but should not kill them. Most attempts to make a biblical case for the support of capital punishment are primarily based on the Old Testament, and that is a poor way to do because as Christians we are part of the New Testament Church, not ancient Israel. Also, Jesus teaches that it is better to show mercy and compassion. The practice of the death penalty in America is wrongly used and applied because of the difference in individual's demographics. Even though I do not have any personal experience regarding this topic that has influence my life in a personal way, but I have heard and researched cases that show me that is does personally influence people's life who are just like me. Because of the research that I have conducted I believe that I am qualified to write on the topic if I continue to do my research thoroughly. I will make myself creditable by strongly stating background on each of my four major points and then use research and sources to back up my claim throughout my essay.

Even though America's justice system is broken, as a follower of Jesus, in Benjamin Corey article "5 Reasons Why Jesus People Ought Oppose the Death Penalty", states that you should abandon the support of violence and lead a change on this terrible issue. Attempts to make the Bible seem like it supports the death penalty is based on the Old Testament, which leads to inconsistency. Presented by Corey, the Old Testament allowed capital punishment and retributive violence, but Jesus later on instructed that this should no longer be observed. Through Jesus's teachings, one can learn that it is better to show mercy and compassion than to obey the law. It is additionally explained that the death penalty is also unjustly used due to one's race. It can be seen that the major values of this article are all based off of Christianity which can interest Christian believers to look at the death penalty in a new way. Benjamin Corey is an Anabaptist author which shows his credibility when discussing religious aspects of the death penalty. 

In "Understanding American's Support for the Death Penalty" by Jeffery Jones, it is stated that the support of the death penalty is largely due to the appeal of fairness, or revenge, to most Americans. Jones expresses that even though people are aware that innocent people are sentenced to death, this does not affect their views on capital punishment. As for reason given for support of the death penalty, "an eye for an eye" is the leading argument. Through a set of five different poles, Jones talks about who favors the death penalty, reasons for supporting the death penalty, who opposes the death penalty, reasons for opposing the death penalty and the type of subgroups that support the death penalty. By presenting these poles, it is shown that Jones values Gallup's research and stays away from personal bias by presenting the facts without giving an opinion to favor either side. 

According to the "The Case Against the Death Penalty" by the ACLU, cruel and unusual punishment such as the death penalty, no matter the crime, should be prohibited. This article states that the state should not give itself the right to kill a human being. It is explained that some of the cases are unfair because of factors such as wealth, attorney, and social background of the convict, capital punishment does not help make public places more safe and some victims are later pledge innocent after death row. The ACLU works in courts, legislatures and communities to help defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country. They value the Constitution and the law of the US which all Americans hold interest in. Because they are for the people, this source shows a stronger picture of its individual values and a democracy. It can also be seen that because of the ACLU's long history, they can be considered a credible source because of their extensive amount of research and time that has gone into similar topics. 

There there are many facts and statements that are for and against this topic. Both sides are heavy on information that could argue either side because of the many values involved when discussing this topic. Each article does agree that innocent people are sentenced to death, supports of the death penalty varies in ones' demographics and support for the death penalty is lower when given a choice of the death penalty or life imprisonment. Conflicting arguments consist of, the amount of innocent people sentenced to death row varies and the application of the death penalty is American is unjustly used and applied. Through this research, it has influenced me to have stronger beliefs in what I consider to be right while also keeping me informed on all sides of the issue. It has helped me see different perspectives while giving me more insight on how I can counter these arguments. Since my research topic is so broad, I will need to condense my Research Exigence so it will only cover four major categories such as, the relationship to crime deterrence, whether or not it is constitutional, the weaknesses in the system and innocent victims, on the whole topic of the death penalty, in order to address this issue in 2,500 words. Through each of these points I am going to further my claim to express that the death penalty is something that needs to seek change. 

