Criminals deserve punishments equivalent to their crimes. However, when the crimes are truly despicable, justice must not stoop to their level of abhorrence. Capital punishment is the perfect balance between vengeful retribution and moral self-righteousness. 

The death penalty is baked into the very Constitution of America. The fifth amendment directly gives the state the power to issue death penalty. Whether or not the state should use it should be delivered on a case by case basis. A complete and outright ban is unnecessary and would require constitutional level change, on top of severely limiting state power to deliver deserved justice.

By removing state ability to issue capital punishment, it would be removing the nuclear option for courts. Criminals already faced with life in prison will no longer have the threat of losing their lives no matter how they act. The threat of capital punishment, even if it is precarious, is a good deterrent to make the worst of society behave. 

It also provides an option for victims and their families to get comparable justice toward a nefarious actor. The death penalty is the most humane way for horrible people to get retribution for their actions. Actions which would not be punished as fairly otherwise. 

Some might say that the death penalty should not exist due to the potential for an innocent person to get sentenced to it. This critic unfairly targets capital punishment. An innocent person could be sentenced to anything, not just the death penalty. This flaw is present in the entire judicial system. Just because the judicial system is imperfect does not mean the whole judicial process should get abandoned. 

Regardless, the majority of people still support using the death penalty. Americans do not want to harbor these criminals. The level of depravity shown from death row inmates, found guilty by a jury, should not be tolerated in the United States. 

Biden should consider all of these factors when consulting with Attorney General Merrick Garland on his administration’s capital punishment policy moving forward. Americans should be disgusted with the actions of these individuals, and continuing capital punishment would send a heavy message to those responsible for the ongoing crime spikes.