The death penalty, a constant source of controversy and divided opinion, is the death penalty imposed on criminals who commit serious crimes. If the seriousness of crimes punishable by the death penalty is questionable, so are its fairness and effectiveness. The justice system is based on punishing crimes committed with an emphasis on punishment fitting the crime. Countries such as China and Singapore have used it to punish drug traffickers and thus fueled debate over the adequacy of sanctions in such cases. For all its aims, the death penalty has well-documented weaknesses, including its brutality and finality, and it is these weaknesses that lead to calls for its abolition. The death penalty is inhumane, poorly applied and completely unjustifiable, regardless of the crime committed. Life imprisonment without parole or pardon achieves all that the death penalty seeks to accomplish without costing society its moral status. The human right to life is sacred and the constitution protects this right. Isn't it ironic that the constitutionally based justice system therefore seeks to end life? Someone who supports the death penalty might argue that when a person takes their life, they lose their right to life. This argument would be wrong because the justice system would do the same thing for which it punishes the criminal. It is also brutal and as Albert Camus said: “An execution is not simply death. For there to be equivalence, the death penalty would have to punish a criminal who warned his victim of the date on which he would inflict a horrible death and who, from that moment on, would have locked him up at his mercy. for months. . Such a monster is not found in the private world...... middle of paper...... more in line with the moral values ​​that society should strive to defend, revenge not being one of them . Life imprisonment without parole is such a punishment. Works Cited “Debate on capital punishment”. Debate on capital punishment – ​​Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. December 16, 2011. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. December 18, 2011. “Death Penalty Arguments and Internet Resources.” » Arguments and resources on the death penalty. June 25, 2003. Wesleyan College of North Carolina. December 18, 2011 < http://faculty.ncwc.edu/mstevens/410/410lect26.htm/>.Messerli, Joe. “Should the death penalty be banned as a form of punishment? BalancedPolitics.org – Death penalty (pros and cons, arguments for and against, pros and cons). November 19, 2011. December 18, 2011 .