Like with many other polemic issues in our society, many people feel the need to have a position in regards to the death penalty, and many times do so without really pondering both sides. While most arguments in favor of the death penalty are more on the emotional and personal side (such as the eye for an eye argument), here are some facts and figures to ponder if justice would be better served in another manner:

1. The death penalty’s history

Throughout the years, many different governments have legalized the death penalty, and the consequences have been disastrous. For example, in the USSR, the death penalty became allowed for soldiers on the front in 1917, and this opened the door for many extremist uses this policy would have in the near future, such as Stalin’s show trials, in which the accused were beaten to near death until they “confessed” to the crimes that they were being accused of.

The death penalty is frequently associated with extremist dictatorships that resulted in various deaths, and thus its most frequent use has been to promote the very thing it is supposed to prevent: the death of innocents. Examples of this include the Fascist dictatorship in Spain, in which the death penalty was legalized in 1938 under Franco, and under Hitler in Germany where nearly 40 000 death sentences were handed down.

2. It is actually more expensive to maintain the death penalty than to have someone serve a life sentence.

Researchers found that the average trial and incarceration costs of an Oregon murder case that results in a death penalty are almost double those in a murder case that results in a sentence of life imprisonment or a term of years, and in other states, the statistics are either the same or around these figures.

3. The mental state of the people being put on the death roll

28% of mass murderers are believed to suffer from autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 21% had suffered a definite or suspected head injury in the past, and of those killers with ASD or a head injury, 55% had experienced traumatic events that caused psychological distress. Then the question enters an area more related to ethics and personal belief: can people with mental disorders be held accountable for their actions? Shouldn’t we be putting our resources towards finding a cure or effective treatment for them rather than towards their executions?

4. We don’t live in a world free of mistakes: sometimes the wrong person is executed.

The underlying argument for almost every single person that supports the death penalty is: "They killed innocents, they deserve to pay with their own lives". But what if there is a mistrial? 10% of inmates in the US since 1976 have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence, without taking into account those that were proven innocent after their deaths. Is it really worth the risk? Does it even make sense to risk innocent lives to prevent the killing of innocents?

5. The death penalty doesn’t actually reduce murder rates.

10 of the 12 states without capital punishment have homicide rates below the national average, while half the states with the death penalty have homicide rates above the national average.