SHOULD THE LWVMP SUPPORT THE ABOLISHMENT OF THE DEATH PENALTY?
At the LWVUS convention this coming June, delegates will, most likely, be asked to concur (support and make it a national position) with the position of the LWV-Illinois that the death penalty should be abolished. The position would read, "The League of Women Voters of the United States supports the abolition of the death penalty."
Most League positions are based on a long process of study, discussion, and then, finally, agreeing on a position statement. Concurrence is another process that is used to arrive at a position. In this process, one or more local or state Leagues have studied an issue and developed a position under the study process; then at some later time, other Leagues concur with the position, relying on the initial League's study. This is how the LWVUS position on reproductive rights was created and also how the LWV-California position on libraries was created. It is the process that delegates might use to create a national position on the death penalty.
The most common arguments "for" the Death Penalty are listed below with the "against" arguments responding to those positions in parallel.
In addition to the LWV-Illinois, the state Leagues of Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and Ohio have a position supporting the abolition of the death penalty. Minnesota and Illinois have links to material that several of the Leagues used to arrive at their positions. If you need more information to decide on whether or not LWVMP should support the abolition of the death penalty, please read the information you find there. Also read the LWV of Ohio Summer 2004 VOTER.
| Arguments for the Death Penalty | Arguments against the Death Penalty |
| Without a death penalty, murder rates would soar. | Studies show that states without the death penalty have murder rates as low as or lower than states with it. |
| To take murder seriously, only the forfeiture of life is adequate punishment. | Only 2% of all murders result in the imposition of the death penalty. |
| The death penalty is the only effective way for society to express its rage in the face of horrific acts of violence. | Any violence is destructive to society. |
| The death penalty is a deterrent to violent crime. | Studies on the matter have fairly consistently concluded that the death penalty does not act as a deterrent. |
| The death penalty saves taxpayers thousands of dollars. | Cost analyses have shown that life imprisonment is actually less costly than a death sentence. |
| Only the death penalty provides closure for families of murder victims. | A prison term provides speedier justice for the families of victims. The mandatory appeals process that accompanies a death sentence is very lengthy and postpones the possibility of closure. |
| Safeguards in our justice system ensure that only guilty persons have been executed. | Over 100 innocent people have been released from death row, most of these despite the system and not because the system worked. |
| The death penalty is only given to the worst criminals for the worst crimes, so it is fair. | The same crime that lands one person on death row may result in a prison term for another. The worst criminals often escape the death penalty because it is used as a bargaining chip. |
| A high regard for human life leads a civilized society to seek the death penalty. | The international community, for the most part, has determined the death penalty to be a violation of human rights. |
