There are a lot of people for and against the death penalty, but in my opinion the against people are just following the crowd and not really sticking up for themselves; perhaps they are just scared of what others are going to say and scared that they will be judged and that is one of the main reasons why the situation isn’t brought up in the open and discussed. The fact is, it is easy for people to make simplistic arguments against the death penalty rather than for it: the arguments for the death penalty are much harder to put in place. However I am going to argue that the death penalty should be brought back – in this day and age it comes across as citizens of the UK are committing foul crimes and simply getting away with it by serving 10 years and then getting set free to do it again but ten times worse.

If I was to bring back the death penalty, it would be essential that I would have to perform the act under strict knowledge of the background and the reason for the individual to have their life taken as a punishment. There are many grey areas where people are let off the hook simply because of their mental illness or their disability and sometimes it can be unfair because they will have acknowledged that what they have done was wrong and just because they are mentally ill or disabled the time given is shortened by a milestone or they are just given community service as opposed to the average citizen who would have got ten plus years with no parole.

There is the argument that is often put forward that people who are for the death penalty would not be prepared to actually press the button to kill someone, and having on their mind that they have ended a life .To counter the argument being put across, I would be prepared to take on the role myself to be the executioner: I would be taking a stand on the behalf of the people who are too scared to do it. Obviously I wouldn’t like to kill someone, but it’s about time that someone did what was right and prove a point that people need to be punished for their actions.

Keeping prisoners in prison for 30+ years is just a waste of time because they are going to die in prison anyway and it is costing the government £65,000 to actually have someone imprisoned, and after that it costs £40,000 for each year that individual is imprisoned. So if some one was imprisoned for 73 years, by the end of the sentence a total of £2,920,000 would have been spent on one person rather than on something that could go to a good cause. Research shows that 75% of prisoners that are released will re-offend and go back toi prison costing even more money

In conclusion , I am not convinced that prison teaches offenders a lesson. Prisons are overcrowded and over funded and rehabilitation is last on the agenda. By contrast, the death penalty teaches others about the consequences of their actions, and in Japan the death penalty is used as a disincentive. although there are many arguments against the death penalty, the fact remains that there are a few cases where it serves a useful purpose.