The death penalty should be outlawed in the United States. Capital punishment has been around for thousands of years. Many Americans today see it as a justification for the murder of another. But the problem is there are many flaws in our court system when it comes to death penalty. The death penalty should be abolished in this country because it's racial discrimination, the financial cost and barbarity.
             Approval ratings in the United States for the death penalty hover around 70 percent, up nearly 50 percent from twenty-five years ago. A recent poll in Texas, which leads the nation in the numbers of executions, stated that 87 percent support the death penalty (Steffen 1). These polls would leave us to believe that a majority of Americans support the death penalty.
             In 1972, the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was constitutional if imposed for certain crimes like murderer and only if carried out under certain standards. After this decision many state legislatures created new capital punishment laws that adhered to the Supreme Court ruling. These laws limit the death penalty to be used in cases where it involves a murder of another. Other crimes include armed robbery, hijacking, and kidnapping. By the late 1990's nearly 38 states had laws that permitted the death penalty (World Book Online). Supporters of the death penalty believe that in certain cases where a person that has taken a human life deserves to die. Many believe that this will discourage others from committing the same act more effectively then prison.
             A prisoner life on death row has been judged unworthy to live. In 1999, the United States was executing prisoners at that rate of two per week (Taylor 36). Since 1976, for every eight people executed, one on death row has been found to be innocent (Taylor 37). So just think how many more innocent people have been executed since.
             A major problem with the death penalty is racial discrimi...