Pros And Cons Of The Death Penalty

Controversy, such a common thing in today’s society. In every controversy, there is a “solution” to the problem at hand. In example, there is major controversy regarding the idea of capital punishment, otherwise known as the death penalty. Part of this controversy is found in relation to the extreme cost of the death sentence itself. The “solution” to some suggests that the costs of the penalty should be cut drastically by limiting the number of trials per case, decreasing the budget the government has to spend on suspect defense, and seeking cheaper manners of execution. As great as these ideas may sound on paper, it is arguably not possible to lower the expenses without butchering the process of capital punishment. To understand how the
The first suggestion to decrease the cost of the death penalty process is by limiting the number of trials allowed in each case. The majority of fees are created in the trial process, for example, Amnesty USA reports that, “In Tennessee, death penalty trials cost 48% more than the average cost of trials in which prosecutors seek life imprisonment.” In Maryland, death penalty costs three times more than the non-death penalty cases, which are approximately $3 million a case. The real jaw dropper is in California, where the justice system costs $137 million a year. It would only cost $11.5 million for a system that did not include capital punishment (“Death Penalty Cost,”
After the guilt and sentencing trials, the previous mentioned “grace period” is a time in which appeals trials come into play. Numerous appeals trials are requested per case to ensure that the right suspect is convicted. A cost report shared by Richard Dieter claims that, “Since 1973, 138 people have been exonerated and freed from death row.” (18) 138 lives could have been lost if the appeals trials did not take place. Even if the appeals trials do not find the defendant innocent, it is a possibility that DNA analysis will reveal the identity of the true perpetrator. Despite what one may be lead to believe by television shows such as C.S.I and Law and Order, DNA analysis can take up to six months with a skilled forensic team (Intrensic). “If the appeals process were truncated there might not have been time for the mistakes to be found or new evidence to emerge.” (Dieter, 18) If the legal system put innocents to death due to denying appeals trials, it may be questioned who is the true