← All topics
Crime and JusticeBeginner to AdvancedWSDCBPPublic Forum

Should the death penalty be abolished?

Supporters say some crimes deserve the ultimate punishment. Opponents point to mistakes that can never be undone.

Statue of Lady Justice holding scales
Sheba_Also · CC BY-SA 2.0
Motion: This House would abolish the death penalty6 Pro · 6 Con · 7 sourcesEditor review: pending
Article The death penalty debate is really three debates · read it below ↓

Introduction

Capital punishment, also called the death penalty, is the execution of a person by the state as punishment for a crime, usually murder. It is one of the oldest punishments in law and one of the most fiercely debated.

Around the world, the long-term trend has been toward abolition. By the end of 2024, 113 countries had abolished the death penalty for all crimes, and 145 had abolished it in law or in practice.1 Yet recorded executions rose to at least 1,518 in 2024, the highest number since 2015, and Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq carried out more than 91% of them. These figures leave out China, which is believed to execute thousands of people every year but keeps its numbers secret.1

In the United States, 53% of adults supported the death penalty in 2024, the lowest level since the early 1970s.2

South Korea sits in between. The death penalty is still in its law, but no one has been executed since December 1997, when 23 people were put to death. In February 2010, the Constitutional Court ruled 5 to 4 that the death penalty does not violate the constitution's protection of human dignity.3

The debate usually comes down to three questions. Is it ever right for the state to take a life as punishment? Does the death penalty actually prevent crime? And can courts avoid executing innocent people?

Key terms

Capital punishment
Another name for the death penalty: execution ordered by a court as punishment for a crime.
Abolitionist in practice
A country that keeps the death penalty in law but has not executed anyone for at least ten years, like South Korea.
Retribution
The idea that punishment should be deserved and match how serious the crime was.
Deterrence
Preventing future crimes because people fear the punishment.
Exoneration
When a convicted person is officially cleared, usually because new evidence shows they were innocent.
Life without parole
A prison sentence with no possibility of release. The usual alternative to the death penalty.

Pros and cons at a glance

Pro: abolish it

    Con: keep it

      Pro arguments

      Con arguments

      Key clashes

      Most death penalty debates are won or lost on these four questions.

      1Does the state have the right to take a life?

      A question of principle. No statistic settles it.

      Pro saysNo government should have the power to kill its own citizens, whatever the crime. Human dignity applies even to the worst offenders.
      Con saysJustice means the punishment matches the crime. For the very worst murders, only death is proportionate.7

      2Deterrence: does the death penalty prevent crime?

      Both sides use the same research and read it differently.

      Pro saysDecades of studies cannot show that executions prevent more murders than long prison sentences do.5
      Con saysThe research cannot show it has no effect either, and some planned crimes may still be stopped by the threat of death.5

      3Mistakes: can courts avoid executing innocent people?

      An execution is the one sentence that can never be corrected.

      Pro saysCourts get it wrong. In the US alone, 185 people sentenced to death have later been exonerated.4
      Con saysUse it only when guilt is beyond any doubt, with modern evidence like DNA and long appeals, and the risk becomes very small.

      4Fairness and cost: is it applied equally, and is it worth it?

      Even supporters ask whether the system works as intended.

      Pro saysWho gets a death sentence can depend on money, race and the quality of a lawyer, and long trials make it more expensive than life in prison.6
      Con saysThose are problems to fix in the system, not reasons to give up a punishment that many victims' families see as justice.

      Around the world

      The US: 27 states still have the death penalty in law, while others have abolished it or paused executions.

      South Korea: abolitionist in practice. No executions since December 1997, and the Constitutional Court upheld the law 5 to 4 in 2010.3

      Debate tip: comparing countries is useful evidence on both sides. Pro can point to the global trend; Con can argue each country should decide by its own values.

      Article on this debate

      Crime and Justice · 5 min read · By Debatery Editing Team

      The death penalty debate is really three debates

      Rights, deterrence and mistakes: why people who agree on the facts still end up on opposite sides.

      Read the article

      Sources

      1. Amnesty International, “Recorded executions hit their highest figure since 2015,” Death Sentences and Executions 2024 report, 2025. LinkHuman rights NGOChecked
      2. Gallup poll, October 2024, as reported by the Equal Justice Initiative, “Overall Support for the Death Penalty Falls to Five-Decade Low,” November 27, 2024. LinkPoll, via advocacy groupCheck against Gallup
      3. Amnesty International, “Republic of Korea: 5,000 days execution-free,” September 30, 2011. LinkHuman rights NGOChecked
      4. Death Penalty Information Center, “DPIC adds eleven cases to innocence list, bringing national death-row exoneration total to 185,” updated March 2025. LinkResearch nonprofitChecked
      5. National Research Council, Deterrence and the Death Penalty, National Academies Press, 2012. LinkNational research bodyChecked
      6. Indiana Legislative Services Agency study for the General Assembly, as reported by the Death Penalty Information Center, July 2010. LinkGovernment study, via nonprofitChecked
      7. Immanuel Kant, The Metaphysics of Morals, 1797, Doctrine of Right, on the right to punish.Classic philosophy textChecked

      Arguments marked “Evidence needed” are waiting for a source before this guide goes live.

      You might also debate

      Should the age of criminal responsibility be lowered? Should life sentences without parole be abolished? Should chemical castration be used for sex offenders? Should all drugs be legal?

      Practise this topic

      Start a WSDC timerMake teamsDraw a related motion

      Suggest an argument or source

      Anyone can suggest improvements. An editor checks every suggestion and source before it's added, and you're credited by name.

      Mockup: suggestions aren't saved yet.