Collins 1

Paige Collins
Ms. Koning
English 1 Honors
20 December 2013
Death Penalty
There have been 508 death penalties in the United States since 1976 according to
deathpenaltyinfo.org. The death penalty is when the punishment for a crime is execution. The
death penalty is still legal in thirty five states. Although over time the death penalty has
decreased it has not been put to a complete stop. The death penalty should become illegal
because people can change, it is hypocritical, the innocent can be executed, and prison is a better
alternative.
The death penalty should be abolished because people can change. Ben Weatherstaff
expresses in the book The Secret Garden Well! He exclaimed. Upon my word. Praps tha art a
young un afterall, an praps thas got childs blood in thy veins instead of sour buttermilk
(Burnett 74).In the book The Secret Garden by Burnett shows a young girl named Mary, who
was never loved and never loved in return. She was portrayed a sickly, rotten, ugly, and bitter
character, but as the book goes on she begins to change. Mary begins to change as her
environment does. As she receives less attention she is forced into entertaining herself. While
doing this she becomes healthy and a more pleasant being. Ben Weatherstaff did not give Mary a
good opportunity to change. He had already made his opinion of her before he knew her. Often
society does this as well. He had never thought Mary could change, like a judge may think a

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criminal can never change. Mary was able to change into a better being just like any being is
capable of when given the chance.
The death sentence should be abolished because it is hypocritical. According to Cornell
University Law School Whoever is guilty of murder in the first degree shall be punished by
death or by imprisonment for life. In a death sentence, the murder is premeditated and willful.
Hence it is technically first degree murder. The people who kill the person due to the death
sentence are not punished in any way. Therefore the government as well as society has just
permanently punished someone for something they did themselves. Is it not hypocritical that we
have just murdered one because they killed someone too?
Death penalty should be abolished because new evidence may prove a person innocent
after they are executed. According to www.deathpenaltyinfo.org, Gordon "Randy" Steidl was
freed from an Illinois prison May 28, 2004, 17 years after he was wrongly convicted and
sentenced to death for the 1986 murders of Dyke and Karen Rhoads. If Steidl had a earlier
execution been earlier, he would have died an innocent man. This is unfair because he had done
nothing wrong yet his life could have been stolen for someone elses doing. Death is permanent;
one cannot bring a life back. If society takes an innocent life there is nothing one can do to return
it. This terrible mistake could have not been fixed.
One may believe that it is not safe for certain people to be living but jail is a better
alternative. In Florida there were 171 completed escapes, 166 or 97% were recaptured as of July
1, 2012. according to www.dc.state.fl.us. The statistics show not many people have gotten away,
and even when they did most of them were caught. Jail is able to keep criminals locked up.

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Prisons were able to keep people isolated from society, so criminals are unable to hurt anyone. It
is immoral to kill someone when they can safely live in a habitat that does not threaten society.
The death penalty should be put to an end because people can change, it is hypocritical,
an innocent person could possibly be killed, and prison is a better alternative. The death penalty
is not crucial for our society can function. In the twenty first century many societies represent
freedom and chance. The death penalty is not fit for the current age because it does not provide
those morals many civilization are built on. The crucial punishment is not ethical. The death
sentence should be destroyed throughout the world.

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Works Cited
"18 USC 1111 - Murder." LII. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2013.
Burnett, Frances Hodgson, and Tasha Tudor. The Secret Garden. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1962.
Print.
"Florida Department of CorrectionsMichael D. Crews, Secretary." Inmate Prison Escapes, 20112012 Agency Annual Statistical Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2013.
"What's New." Death Penalty Information Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2013.