Should We Have the Death Penalty?

This paper argues that the state should not use capital punishment even when some crimes appear, in abstract retributive terms, to deserve death. The analysis combines moral philosophy, legal history, wrongful-conviction evidence, empirical research on deterrence and victim-family outcomes, and policy evaluation. It finds that the death penalty cannot be justified as a public institution because it is irreversible in a system marked by error, racial disparity, forensic uncertainty, prolonged appeals, high cost, and contested value for victims' families. The paper therefore supports abolition and recommends replacing capital punishment with non-capital sentences, rigorous innocence review, humane confinement standards, and sustained support for victims' families.