Abolishing the Death Penalty
When a person is found guilty in this country, they may either serve a term in prison or be put on death row. On death row, the person awaits their death as a punishment for the crime they committed. The United States remains in the minority of nations in the world that still uses death as penalty for certain crimes. Many see the penalty as barbaric and against American values. Others see it as a very important tool in fighting violent pre-meditated murder. The death penalty should be abolished because of its financial costs to tax payers, it’s barbaric, and its ineffectiveness.
The average American thinks would think that it’s simpler and cheaper to kill a convicted person rather than pay millions of tax dollars to keep the convict in jail for a life term. However, they are very wrong. One reason why the death penalty should be abolished is because of its expensive costs. In reality, the death penalty is two to five times more expensive than keeping a convict in prison for life. This expensive price tag has to do with the endless appeals and additional required procedures that drag the process out. Since a convict’s life is on the line, the chance of making the mistake of killing the wrong person has to be very slim to none. Therefore, more than one trial or appeal is done to make sure this is the exact person that will be punished for the crime by death. Sometimes, the person found guilty sits on death row 15-20 years before they are officially put to death. Not only are taxpayers paying to keep the convicted person in prison, but they are also paying for the judges, attorneys, court reporters, clerks, and court facilities. Do we Americans really have that many resources to waste?
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...fied individuals. Although the court system is at fault, the ultimate risk is the mistake of killing the wrong person.
The expensive price tag for tax payers, barbaric method, and ineffectiveness of the death penalty are reasons why the punishment should be abolished in the United States. To create a society where there is true equality and justice means we must relinquish the barbaric methods we use in our society. Capital punishment is one of those outdated methods for punishing people convicted of a crime. Why use a justice system, whose purpose is to give the best and most fair punishment to those found guilty, when there is a chance of being punished in the most unfair and unjust way? Simply seeking revenge for the murder of a loved one is not enough to waste millions of dollars, give a hypocritical image to the world, and gain superficial satisfaction.
Many people are led to believe that the death penalty doesn’t occur very often and that very few people are actually killed, but in reality, it’s quite the opposite. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1,359 people have been executed as a result of being on death row since 1977 to 2013. Even though this form of punishment is extremely controversial, due to the fact that someone’s life is at stake, it somehow still stands to this very day as our ultimate form of punishment. Although capital punishment puts murderers to death, it should be abolished because killing someone who murdered another, does not and will not make the situation any better in addition to costing tax payers millions of dollars.
The death penalty, as administered by states based on their individual laws, is considered capital punishment, the purpose of which is to penalize criminals convicted of murder or other heinous crimes (Fabian). The death penalty issue has been the focus of much controversy in recent years, even though capital punishment has been a part of our country's history since the beginning. Crimes in colonial times, such as murder and theft of livestock were dealt with swiftly and decisively ("The Death Penalty..."). Criminals were hanged shortly after their trial, in public executions. This practice was then considered just punishment for those crimes. Recently though, the focus of the death penalty debate has been on moral and legal issues. The murderers of today's society can be assured of a much longer life even after conviction, with the constraints of the appeals process slowing the implementation of their death sentence. In most cases, the appeal process lasts several years, during which time criminals enjoy comfortable lives. They have television, gym facilities, and the leisure time to attend free college-level classes that most American citizens must struggle to afford. Foremost, these murderers have the luxury of time, something their victims ran out of the moment their paths crossed. It is time this country realized the only true justice for these criminals is in the form of the death penalty. The death penalty should be administered for particularly heinous crimes.
The United States should use the death penalty because it is economical and continues to be a deterrent for potential offenders. Take into consideration that the Constitution states that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness can not be taken away without due process. The offenders committing the brutal, heinous crimes have not applied this right to the victims of their crimes. Why should the government take their rights into consideration when the victims rights mean so little to them? People always put forth the idea that killing is wrong in any sense, yet they don’t want to punish the people that commit the crimes.
Thirty-two of the fifty states of the United States of America have capital punishment and in those thirty-two sates there are over three thousand people on death row as of January 1, 2013, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The murderers of today’s society can be assured of a much longer life even after conviction because of the appeals process slowing the implementation of their death sentence. (Oberg) The imposition of the death penalty is extremely expensive because it allows for endless appeals at the expense of the taxpayers. The effectiveness of the death penalty is greatly compromised when it is not carried through. There needs to be a certainty attached to it to make it effective, and that has not happened. There needs to be one trial, one appeal, and then either acquittal, or execution. (Baltimore Sun) The states need to stop pushing for the abolition of the death penalty and start looking for a way to make it more cost-effective.
“Any last words?” is the sentence that is given to the people who are about to be put to death.
Capital punishment should be abolished in Louisiana in order to optimize rehabilitation methods and increase spending in more important areas of the state budget.
How would you feel if you were claimed guilty for a crime you did not do? This is a situation that many people undergo in their respective judicial system. The death penalty is a legal procedure where a person is killed by the government as a punishment for a serious crime they committed. Currently, there are 32 states that practice death penalty and 18 states that have abolished it. In 1846, Michigan became the first US state to eradicate the death penalty for all crimes except for treason. In 1852, Rhode Island became the first US state to abolish the death penalty for all crimes including treason. Even though the death row may contain many malicious murderers, there is a large probability that there are innocent victims among them. Many nations see the death penalty as a violation of human rights and believe that it should be eradicated. The number of executions is decreasing and the public is beginning to fight against this criminal justice process. Although the death penalty has resulted in the death of many criminals, capital punishment must be eradicated because many innocent people are murdered, it is used in a racist manner, and many millions of dollars are spent on this practice.
Many people, including some higher educated people, tend to believe that executing someone is a lot cheaper than the alternative, which is life in prison without the possibility of parole. Indeed, this thought seems like common sense. However, extensive research has been conducted that contradicts that belief. For instance, a study conducted in Maryland, in 2008, found that the state spends roughly 1.9 million dollars more per capital case, compared to non-capital cases (Warden, 2009). But how can this be some may ask. Well, the reason capital punishment costs more than life without the possibility of parole, is because death penalty cases are longer and more expensive. Because the capital punishment is an irreversible sentence, the state, or government, is required to heighten the defendant’s due process in order to decrease the chance of the defendant being innocent (DPIC). Furthermore, not only is it more expensive for the trial phase, it is also a higher price for a state to imprison death row inmates compared to other
The death penalty is legal in thirty-two states. I shall argue that capital punishment should be abolished in our country because it is never moral to kill a human being no matter what they have done, because it often costs more money to keep someone on death row than to keep someone in prison for life, because of the men and women who are wrongly accused of a crime they did not commit, and because death is the easy way out.
Almost all nations in the world either have the death sentence or have had it at one time. It was used in most cases to punish those who broke the laws or standards that were expected of them. Since the death penalty wastes tax money, is inhumane, and is largely unnecessary it should be abolished in every state across the United States. The use of the death penalty puts the United States in the same category as countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia which are two of the world’s worst human rights violators (Friedman 34). Lauri Friedman quotes, “Executions simply inject more violence into an already hostile American society.”
“ ….Judgments, right or wrong. This concern with concepts such as finality, jurisdiction, and the balance of powers may sound technical, lawyerly, and highly abstract. But so is the criminal justice system….Law must provide simple answers: innocence or guilt, freedom or imprisonment, life or death.” (Baude, 21).
The death penalty is racist, it punishes the poor, it causes the innocent to die, it is not a deterrent against violent crime, and it is cruel and unusual punishment. More than half of the countries in the world have already abolished the death penalty and the U.S should abolish it too. It is wrong and cruel. Some states in the U.S still hold the death penalty because they think it will keep U.S citizens safe, but we can just keep the murders in a separate patrolled jail. Abolish it and we may save the lives of the people that may have been executed innocent.
Why should the death penalty be abolished? The death penalty should be abolished because of many reasons. Many people believe the saying, 'an eye for an eye'. But when will people realize that just because someone may have killed a loved one that the best thing for that person is to die also. People don't realize that they are putting the blood of another person life on their hands. This makes them just as guilty as the person who committed the crime: the only difference is that they didn't use weapon except their mouth to kill them. The death penalty should be abolished because it is racist, punishes the poor, condemns those who are innocent to death, and is a cruel punishment.
Many who disagree with the death penalty believe it is immoral, discriminates, is very expensive, increases crime, and is only a way to carry out revenge. This, however, is not true. Capital punishment should be legal because it is moral, by not allowing criminals to roam the streets once again. It does not discriminate against those of color or the poor, and is actually less expensive than life imprisonment. The most important reason why the death penalty should be legal is because it deters crime.
Is the death penalty something our nation should allow, or is it something that should be taken away completely? I believe our country should not abolish this punishment for heinous crimes committed against innocent people. Not only to punish the offender, but also to give closure that this person will not have the chance to cause another family the same pain. Furthermore, I would like justice to be given for everyone involved in this crime, especially the victim, who in many cases just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.