Pros And Cons Of Abolish Death Penalty

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Recommended: Racial disparities and the death penalty

Christine Nguyen
Professor Wood
US Government
16 March 2015
Abolish Death Penalty: Yes or No? The death penalty has many other names; execution, capital punishment, death sentence, death warrant. This harsh sentence is usually handed down to those who commit murder or rape to deter crime. Like a coin there are always two sides to the argument. The reasons for pro abolish death penalty are it costs more to serve capital punishment than keeping someone in prison for life and it violates the “cruel and unusual” clause in the Bill of Rights.
On the other hand, against abolishing capital punishment are there is racial bias in the justice system and DNA testing, advanced crime scene science takes out the uncertainty of someone’s guilt or innocence,
The death penalty is meant to deter criminals from committing repeat offenses. A review of capital punishment since 1975 by an economist and psychologist concluded that over many years and across states found a deterrent effect. A study in 2003 found from 1977 to 1996 that on average, each execution resulted in 18 fewer murders per county. Another review of data from the 50 states from 1978 to 1997, an economist found that each state execution deters an average of 14 murders annually. Numbers do demonstrate that capital punishment does deter crime, but the justice system should be cautious when handing out the final verdict. Officials at all levels have to keep constitutional protections in mind like due process and equal protection of the law. Although, processing the criminal shouldn’t be taken advantaged of because that will get in the way of lawful execution of the death penalty in capital
After a criminal is released from jail they are guaranteed to be arrested again. By performing another criminal act. Approximately 68% of prisoners, released in 2005 across 30 states, were arrested for a new crime within three years of prison release and 77% were arrested in five years. 37% of prisoners who were arrested within five years of release were then arrested within the first six months after release with 57% arrested by the end of the first year. The statistics is three in four former prisoners will be arrested within five years of release. My criminology textbook listed a reason I found interesting, offenders believe they won’t get caught twice for the same type of crime like lightning doesn’t strike the same spot twice

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