Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the execution of an offender sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law of a criminal offense (Hood, 2017). Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is legal in 31 of the 50 U.S. states (Death Penalty Fast Facts, 2018). As of 2017, 106 countries, or more than half worldwide, had completely abolished the death penalty. However, The United States of America is the last Western country that still executes its prisoners (Death Penalty Focus, 2018). In 1972, the Supreme Court declared that under then-existing laws, “the imposition and carrying out the death penalty…constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eight and Fourteenth Amendments.” (Furman v. Georgia) But in 1976, The Supreme Court specified that the death penalty does not “consistently” violate the U.S. Constitution and the execution of prisoners returned (Bedau, 2012). Even though the abolishment of the death penalty was overturned, doing away with the death penalty has occurred once in the history of The United States and can happen again. The death penalty, or capital punishment, should be replaced with life without parole (LWOP) in the remaining 31 states because it is costly, both financially and emotionally, it does not deter crime or reduce murder rates, and it would diminish the risk of executing innocent people. It is a common misconception that capital punishment is more cost effective than the punishment of life without parole. However, replacing the death penalty with life without parole would save states that still execute their prisoners millions of dollars each year. Of the 31 states that still practice capital punishment, 11 of those states have not executed a prisoner in at least 10 years. For example, Nebraska has not carried out an execution in 15 years, New Hampshire hasn’t executed a prisoner since 1939, and Kansas carried out its last execution in 1965. Even though several U.S. States have not carried out an execution in some cases 5, 10, 15, or more years, these states still spend millions of dollars a year to enforce the death penalty (Gramlich, 2018). California is home to the largest death row population in the United States of America (A Costly Failure, 2018). Taxpayers spend $150 million every year to enforce a system that has not executed a prisoner in the last decade. $150 million taxpayer dollars have been used every year to carry out capital punishment in a state that has only executed 13 people since 1978. In other words, if California replaced the death penalty with life without parole, it would save the state $150 million yearly. In the same way, Florida would save $51 million a year if they were to punish all first-degree murderers with life without parole (A Costly Failure, 2018). By replacing the death penalty with alternate sentencing such as life without parole, states that still enforce the death penalty would save millions of taxpayer dollars per year. The death penalty is not only a financial cost but an emotionally one as well. Another misconception concerning the death penalty is it is the only way to ensure convicted murderers are never released from prison. There has never been a case in the history of the United States where an adult sentenced to life without parole was actually released on parole (5 Myths, 2018). In other words, life without parole is in fact a sentence of death carried out in prison. In addition, many believe that capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the only way to provide closure for the victims’ families. Yet, due to the mandatory appeals process that is entailed in the death penalty, cases often result in decades of court hearings without certainty that the sentence will ever be carried out. In fact, some prisoners die in prison before they ever meet their execution date (5 Myths, 2018). A study that was conducted by The Marquette Law Review examined the impact of the death penalty and a life sentence for the murder on victims’ family members. The study discovered that when the perpetrator was sentenced to life without parole, opposed to the death penalty, there were higher levels of physical, psychological, and behavioral health in the victims’ surviving family members. The family members also reported a higher level of satisfaction with the criminal justice system when the sentence was life in prison rather than death (Armour, 2012). Due to the long process that is involved with enforcing the death penalty, many of the survivors of murder victims feel that the death penalty process only prolongs their pain. Also, the surviving family members feel that the death penalty process does not provide the justice or resolution that they were yearning for. A sentence of life in prison entails a shorter process, allowing for families to heal knowing justice is being served. (5 Myths, 2018) An additional common misconception is that the death penalty deters crime and lowers murder rates, but this could not be further from the truth. For example, North Carolina’s murder rate declined after they stopped carrying out the execution of prisoners. (Failure to Deter, 2018) According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the murder rate in states that still enforce the death penalty is actually higher than states who do not utilize the death penalty as punishment. The National Research Information Center also concluded that there is no credible evidence, after reviewing more than 30 years of research, that the death penalty deters crime. Dr. Jonathan Groner, an associate professor of surgery at Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health, researches the deterrent effect of capital punishment and commented, “It is very clear that deterrents are not effective in the area of capital punishment.” He explains that people who commit these crimes are not in a normal or stable state of mind. Therefore, these perpetrators do not consider the consequences of their actions, such as the death penalty. Groner also suggests that deterrents could possibly work if these punishments were obvious and immediate, however, neither of these are attributes of the death penalty (Experts Explain, 2018). By enforcing the death penalty, the attention and financial resources are diverted away from precautionary measures that would actually increase public safety (Donohue, J., & Wolfers, J., 2006). Thus, murder rates are not lowered and crime is not deterred because the death penalty takes away resources from programs and measures that do in fact reduce crime. In the United States of America, 164 death row inmates have been exonerated through DNA evidence since 1973 (Death Penalty Info, 2018). The most recent exoneration occurred on November 5, 2018 in Florida, in the case of Clemente Javier Aguirre. Of the 164 exonerated cases, 28 of them were in Florida, which is more than any other state (Death Penalty Info, 2018). Another significant exonerated case that also took place in Florida is the case of Frank Lee Smith (Alanez, 2016). Smith spent 15 years on death row and died of cancer before his exoneration. Smith died in 2000 and only a few months after his death, DNA evidence cleared his name of 1985 murder conviction. In 2004, Cameron Willingham was executed in Texas after being accused of setting his 3 daughters on fire. Preceding his execution, the evidence that was initially used to prove Willingham’s guilt was deemed inconclusive (Innocent and Executed, 2018). But how does this happen? What causes the innocent to be wrongfully convicted of a crime? Data from the National Registry of Exonerations focuses on two factors that are widespread causes of wrongful convictions in death penalty cases. These two factors are official misconduct and perjury, or false accusation, which brings up even more questions concerning our justice system. The registry reports that official misconduct was a contributing factor in 571 of 836 of homicide exonerations, mistaken witness identification existed in 203 of 836 homicide exonerations, false or misleading forensic evidence accounted for 194 of 836 of homicide exonerations, false or fabricated confessions accounted for 182 of 836 homicide exonerations, and inadequate legal representation at trial accounted to 218 of 836 homicide exonerations (DPIC Analysis, 2017). Even though DNA evidence has cleared the names of many innocent people wrongfully convicted, some did not live to see their exoneration, others lives were treacherously altered, and years of their lives were stripped from them that they will never regain. By replacing the death penalty with life without parole, the United States would eliminate the risk of executing innocent people. By replacing the death penalty with life without parole, the United States would save taxpayers millions of dollars yearly, give the victims’ surviving family members the justice that they deserve, and eliminate the risk of executing innocent people. By eliminating the death penalty from our justice system, we then could utilize the resources that were originally consumed by the death penalty towards programs and measures that would actually decrease crime rates, decrease murder rates, and increased overall public safety.