Death Penalty In America Essay

Death Penalty and America Capital punishment, or more commonly known as the death penalty continues to be a controversial topic in the United States. The United States is one of the few industrialized countries left in the world that still uses the death penalty, needs to change its practice. Abolition of the death penalty in the United States should be the next course of action of the United States justice system because it is economically inefficient, and racially discriminates. First, the death penalty is economically inefficient. In California, it has been estimated that the state has “spent around four billion dollars on the death penalty since the 1976 reinstatement, and the state of California has only executed thirteen people in that time” (Alarcon). With the execution of thirteen people, and a massive four billion dollar

Since the 1976 reinstatement of the death penalty, there has been a substantial difference in the number of executions regarding interracial murders. “There have been thirty one white people executed for killing a black victim, compared to the two hundred and ninety five black defendants executed for killing a white victim” (Facts). With numbers like that there is no doubt that the system is skewed. It should also be mentioned that the numbers listed above are from cases that are from the defendant killing one or more victims of one race. Cases involving multiple victims of several different races are not included. Also, the race of the victim plays a very large role in determining if the death penalty is handed out. “Three/Fourths of the race of victims of the cases that resulted in death sentences are white at just over seventy five percent with black victims in second with only about fifteen percent of the cases since 1976” (Facts). How can America claim to value equality among its people when it is blatantly obvious that one race is favored above