Capital Punishment

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Capital Punishment is the lawful infliction of the death penalty. The three most common death penalties are the gas chamber, lethal injection, and the electric chair. These methods are used to be a deterrent against crimes such as murder. The point given to these people is that they are less likely to commit a crime knowing they’ll receive the ultimate punishment to kill. "No other punishment is to deter man so effectively from committing a crime as the punishment of death". Now many people may agree that this statement is correct, but Criminologists have built a strong case that the threat of death failed to deter murder, anymore effectively than prison. Therefore, to inflict harm to one, is just simply useless.

Capital Punishment is meant to deter crimes but at what cost? Capital trials are longer and more expensive at every step than other murder trials. Pre-trial motions, expert witness investigations, jury selection, and the necessity for two trials--one on guilt and one on sentencing--make capital cases extremely costly, even before the appeals process begins. Guilty pleas are almost unheard of when the punishment is death. In addition, many of these trials result in a life sentence rather than the death penalty, so the state pays the cost of life imprisonment on top of the expensive trial. On top of that some states are spending large amounts of money, but murder rates are not going down. For example, the most comprehensive study in the country found that the death penalty costs North Carolina $2.16 million per execution more then life imprisonment. Texas, with over 300 people on death row, is spending an estimated $2.3 million per case, but its murder rate remains one of the highest in the country. A death penalty case costs an average of $2.3 million, is about three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years.

The exorbitant costs of capital punishment are actually making America less safe because badly needed financial and legal resources are being diverted from effective crime fighting strategies. Across the country, police are being laid off, prisoners are being released early, the courts are clogged, and crime continues to rise. In Texas, prisoners are serving only 20% of their time and rearrests are common. Now if money was putting men in prison instead of killing them…. Also, Georgia is laying off 900 correctional personnel and New Jersey has had to dismiss 500 police officers.

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