human
I need to find a persuasive essay that argues that capital punishment should be abolished.
assistant
A convincing argument that capital punishment should be abolished can be made on many different levels. From a moral perspective, it has been argued that it is wrong for the state to take away the life of a person, no matter how severe their crimes have been. Furthermore, against the backdrop of the potential for human fallibility and lapses in due process, the wrong person could be executed for a crime he or she did not commit. On a practical level, there is a strong body of evidence that capital punishment is grossly inefficient in deterring crime, and the money put into death penalty cases could be much better spent on society’s most pressing needs. Finally, removing the death penalty could allow the criminal justice system to transcend crippling retribution and focus instead on genuine rehabilitation. Combined, these considerations make a powerful case for the abolition of capital punishment.