The death penalty must be abolished. We have given our government the authorization to determine who shall live and who shall not. We have given twelve individuals the power to determine the mortal fate of another human being. Today's system of capital punishment is fraught with inequalities and injustices. There is no room for the difference between life and death. Nearly four centuries have passed since the first recorded lawful execution on American soil (Captain …showed first 75 words of 1415 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1415 total…cost of an innocent man's life is too great to risk in state-sanctioned murder. We have the chance to begin the new century in a society free of murder in any form and we need to embrace that chance. It is our moral responsibility to abolish the death penalty. We were placed in a society that acted on primal instinct and feeds on revenge. But I still believe there to be hope for the future.