To Kill or Not to Kill? by Patricia Smith

          Capital punishment has been a very controversial topic. This is called the death penalty. Many oppose this punishment, while others support it. In the article "To Kill or Not to Kill?" by Patricia Smith, talks about the large decline of the usage of the death penalty across the country. The author wants readers to know that despite being legal in most of the American states, the use of the death penalty is nowhere near as high as it was in the past.

       Smith uses lots of strong terms to express her opinion to the readers. Terms like "lethal injection", and "terribly wrong", also "high costs". One part of the text that Smith uses that describes the way the use of the death penalty has been going down. Smith says, "the high costs of carrying out death sentences has been a factor". I feel that the author includes both opinions that represent whether the death penalty shouldn't be used, and why it should. One way this is shown when Smith says, "Other death penalty supporters say that capital punishment serves as a deterrent, stopping would-be killers, since they'd fear the possibility of execution". It also says that the people who oppose the death penalty say that the killing is wrong, no matter the crime.

   I personally think that Patricia Smith is trying to get readers to think about the death penalty. In my opinion, I think that the death penalty is wrong, I personally don't think of it as justice. I think that no one should have that kind of power to get to decide who gets to live and who gets to die. No one should just be able to be playing as God. I think that Smith leans towards the side that the death penalty shouldn't be used, considering she uses words like lethal, terribly, and the term high costs.

       After going through and reading this article, personally opinion hasn't changed whether or not the death penalty should or shouldn't be used. I think that states like New York chose the right thing by not using the death penalty as a punishment. I would want to look more into executions and executions that went wrong, and they did so.