In this article, I will argue the following position that the death penalty should be abolished for all crimes in the United States since it is not a proven deterrent, it is not economically advantageous and there is a possibility that an innocent person could be put to death. The capital punishment for all crimes should be life imprisonment because it is a deterrent, it is a cheaper option and it would save innocent lives. I think some of the best arguments for my position would be based on the assumption that the death penalty is not a proven deterrent. There is no plausible evidence that the death penalty poses a greater threat to criminals than a life sentence behind bars. There have been cases where criminals have admitted that they would rather die than live to the end in a maximum security prison. The ever-present danger in prison is constantly alive, you have a constant daily fear of rape and abuse around every corner. Cell isolation and the possibility of a confrontation with a cellmate, if you have one, can be extremely stressful. It's not a life anyone would choose for themselves. The next argument in support of my position is the enormous cost between the trial and the end of an inmate's sentence compared to the death penalty compared to life imprisonment. The Death Penalty Information Center states that the United States of America spent an additional $1.6 billion on capital trials between 1982 and 1997. The states of New Jersey and New York have completely gotten rid of the death penalty. New Jersey spent $253 million over a twenty-five year period and never executed a single inmate (deathpenaltyinfo.org). New York spent $170 million in just nine years and had zero executions (death penalty data, reports). Both are ...... middle of the paper ...... do you have when you willfully break the law? The consequences and risks are there and are simply chosen to be ignored. It's the same equivalent of a person trying to take their own life, if the person doesn't succeed it's not against the law but if a person succeeds then they've broken the law... doesn't it matter to those who intended to succeed? No and they are not punished. In conclusion, I continue to maintain that, all things considered, my position presents stronger arguments. If the death penalty were abolished, innocent lives would not be lost, money would not be wasted, and criminals would not be subjected to a punishment worse than death which they may or may never face. Works Cited www.bbc.co.uk/ etica.capitalpunishment.for_1shtml www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/time-death-row www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/reportswww.deathrow.at/dominiquegreen/life.html