Today there is a big controversy over capital punishment whether or not it works or if it is morally right. Before I go on capital punishment, in America, is only used in felony cases such as murder or a felony buglary, where there was a unintended murder because of a robbery. People who favor the death penalty say that the criminals deserve it and is the only way for justice to be served. People who are against it, the death penalty, say that it is immoral, that no person should be sentenced to death, it has no place in a civilized society, and that since the death penalty cannot be racially bias it should be banished. Capital punishment is justified by several means. First of all, it greatly discourages violent crimes like murder and rape. Many murderers are not serving most--if even half--of their sentences nowadays, due to early parole or overcrowded prisons. If a murderer is sentenced to life imprisonment, not only does it cost the taxpayers money to support them but often their life in the jail is often better than that which some citizens live everyday. These first two facts encourage crime rather than impede them. Also, a person who commits murder deserves a punishment that fits the crime committed. Premeditated murder, being the most vile crime committed, calls for the only fit punishment-- death. I am referring only to murderers getting the death penalty, and not necessarily any other crimes like rape or buglary.