Typically, debate over the death penalty centers around the morality of putting humans to death. Unfortunately, this issue becomes nothing more than a matter of opinion when approached via the heart and not the mind. One either believes capital punishment is immoral, or one doesn’t. As a result, rational debate ceases.

Proper consideration of the issue needs to center around fact, not opinion. When debating legislative measures such as this, the question that needs to be asked is “Why should this law be enacted?” In the case of capital punishment, the only respectable arguments are that 1) it reduces crime, and 2) it saves money. The facts, however, paint a different picture.

Fact: Instituting the death penalty does not lower the crime rate. Study after study in state after state has irrefutably demonstrated that murder and other violent crime rates are not noticeably affected when the death penalty is legalized. All evidence points to the simple conclusion that capital punishment does not reduce crime

Fact: History has repeatedly shown that, contrary to intuition, killing inmates does not reduce our government’s costs, In order to ensure that capital punishment is not considered “cruel and unusual,” proposals legalizing the death penalty must allow for significant court deliberation and government appeals. Because of the bureaucratic safety net geared toward ensuring that such punishment is justified, inmates on death row often actually cost more to kill than to keep in prison indefinitely. Actions of other state governments have proven that there is no way to constitutionally enact capital punishment in a way that reduces legal costs to such a point that death is cost effective. As a result, the death penalty does not save taxpayers’ money.

While it is exciting and wholly American to try to push one’s personal beliefs on others, arguments about the death penalty focusing on its morality accomplish little. I urge lowa State students and the citizenry of lowa to think carefully and rationally about this issue. There is no effective argument justifying capital punishment on a rational basis. It is time the senseless debate be put to rest.

Ben Byrne

Sophomore

Art & Design