Currently, 38 states have legalized capital punishment statutes. In most states, the reinstatements of the death penalty were a response to public outcry over the perceived increase of violent crimes. There are now more than 3,000 people on death row. .

             Despite this legalized status, a vocal group of opponents have raised questions regarding the constitutionality, fairness and effectiveness of capital punishment. This paper argues that opponents of the death penalty are misguided, and that the death penalty is a sad but necessary tool for American society.

             Arguments against the death penalty.

             Many well-meaning death penalty activists have argued for the abolition of the death penalty. However, as this paper will show, many of these reasons are misguided or illogical.

             First, many opponents of the death penalty argue that the system is fraught with danger. The disparities in its application make the death penalty discriminatory towards ethnic minorities, the poor, the uneducated, and the mentally-challenged. Indeed, most of the people on death row are poor, uneducated. Many suffer from mental illness. Majority of those on death row are African American or Hispanic (Williams, 13).

             However, this argument does not address the fact that people who are in jail have been convicted by juries of their peers. Also, studies have shown that though there are more minorities on death row, white defendants have been twice more likely to be executed than their African American counterparts. Many white death row inmates are executed an average of 15 months sooner than black defendants (Rothman and Powers, 44).

             Second, death penalty opponents point to the risk of executing innocent people. They cite statistics regarding how many death row inmates have later been found innocent. Between 1976 and 1981, more than 80 death row inmates nationwide have been freed, after charges against them were dropped due to wrongful convictions and overwhelming evidence of innocence.