Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is defined as the taking of human life, whether premeditated or planned, by a government in response to a crime lawfully committed by that person found guilty. Many people have discussed this at length over the years. There are many reasons to agree or disagree with capital punishment, but the reasons against it far outweigh those that support it. Many justifications for the death penalty do not fully apply to our justice system, are misunderstood, or simply do not make sense. There is no justification for killing other human beings and all arguments cannot change that. Since 1976, more than a thousand people have been executed by the government. In his essay, HL Mencken, argues that the death penalty should be used as a means of catharsis or revenge. However, this does not apply to our justice system as a whole. Our justice system is designed to give convicted criminals a sentence that fits their crime, yes, but it is not a complete eye for an eye system. We sentence people to prison, probation, or any other type of retribution that we have predetermined to punish these criminals. The justice system does not sentence a rapist to be raped, nor a person who has mutilated another person to be mutilated themselves. Instead, they sentence these people to prison or community service. It would be neither logical nor moral to punish only one type of criminal with a different form of punishment. It makes no sense to continually increase prison sentences and then move on to a new form of punishment for something that society considers the worst. Society is the only determining factor...... middle of paper ...... and our society on the right track. Our government must lead by example and stop it. There is simply no real justification for killing anyone. Works Cited Death Row Fact Sheet. Florida Department of Corrections, 2011. Web. April 12, 2011. Facts about the death penalty. Death Penalty Information Center, 2011. Web. April 13, 2011.King, Coretta Scott. “The death penalty is a step backwards. » Muller 148-150. Mencken, HL “The death penalty”. Muller 145-147. Muller, Gilbert H., ed. The McGraw-Hill Reader: Problems Across Disciplines. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2008. Print. Radelet, Michael L. and Marian J. Borg. “The Changing Nature of Death Penalty Debates.” Annual Review of Sociology 26 (2000): 43-61. Annual reviews. Web.The case against the death penalty. American Civil Liberties Union. Internet. April 13, 2011.