Capital punishment might be cruel in some ways but when someone kills someone else, and the taxpayers have to keep them alive in jail that is not right. I support capital punishment because not only is it cruel to keep somebody locked up for life but it also is a waste of money by the state.
             The major argument for capital punishment is retribution. The victim's family often feels relieved when the prisoner has been executed. "Retribution satisfies the demand for justice. It channels public outrage into the acceptable form of the criminal sentence. If criminal sentences do not satisfy this demand for justice, angry citizens may lose respect for law and even, on occasion, take it into their own hands" (Samaha). The punishment handed out should fit the crime committed, if a murder is committed then he or she deserves to be executed. The best solution to the problem is to execute the prisoner right away, eliminate the nine appeals that the prisoner has a right to. This way it cuts down on the crowded prisons and saves the government a lot of money. It will open up more room for the criminals who are not in prison and allowed to stay on the streets. These convicted murderers should have no right to be allowed to live any longer than after they are convicted. Do it quickly and ease the pain.
             Those who oppose capital punishment are in the minority today in the United States. "By 1989 more than 80 percent of Americans favored the death penalty" (Samaha). So with support for capital punishment on the rise, why doesn't the government do what we the people want and endorse capital punishment in every state. People argue that capital punishment is immoral. But in the Old Testament, it says it is moral. In one passage from Genesis, "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed." Another from Exodus, "Eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe" (Mitchell)...