Expressing an Opinion - 1 ﹝revised﹞

  In my opinion, the death penalty should not be banned as a form of criminal punishment. First of all, the death penalty gives closure to the family members of crime victims. Some victim's families may spend years or even decades recovering from the sorrow. Some may never recover. Only a death sentence brings finality to those family members. In addition, it creates another form of crime deterrent. Crime will run rampantly if there aren’t some ways to deter people from committing the crimes. Prison time is an effective deterrent, but to some people, more is needed. We should have a variety of punishments in order to minimize crime. Finally, it contributes to the problem of overpopulation in the prisons. Prisons over the world all face the problem of too many prisoners, which results in having insufficient space and resources. Each prisoner requires a part of a prison cell, food, clothing, and so on. When you do away with the death penalty, it means that prisoners must be in prison for life. Thus, it only worsens the problem of being overcrowded in the prisons. It is for all these reasons and more that I believe the death penalty should be used as a form of criminal punishment.