Capital punishment has been a topic discussed among citizens of the United States since it was first introduced in 1608. Captain George Kendall in the Jamestown colony of Virginia was executed for being a spy for Spain. (Randa, 1997). The discussion of this act is divided amongst the American Public. Should the death penalty be abolished in the United States? I believe it should be abolished. There are many reasons this form of capital punishment should be ruled against. In the Untied States we consider the standard bearer of human rights, it is said that more then 3,500 men and women are on death row. Some of these people are awaiting a death and are innocent of the crime they were convicted of. Some are mentally ill, and almost all of them are poor. or are black. Having the death penalty in the United States has not deterred crime. Crime is still out there. Approximately thirteen million people (approximately 5% of the U.S. population) are victims of crime every year. Approximately one and a half million are victims of violent crime. (disaster center crime rate updated 2006). Thus, showing even with the death penalty people are still out there dong violent crimes. Innocents is another reason to abolish the death penalty. It was reported by Lawrence C. Marshall, a law professor at Northwestern University and director of The National Conference on Wrongful Convictions, that since 1972 , there have been 78 innocent people released from death row.(Moore and Parker 8th Ed. 2007). How many innocent people have actually been executed? Execution is a no take back deal. The mentally ill on death row are not presumed mentally in during their trial. Infant some of those know that they are on death row awaiting execution and the reason for their execution. In the eyes of the legal system if the person knows they are not considered criminally insane. Dr. Jonathan H. Pincus, the chief of neurology at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Washington and Dr. Dorothy Otnow...