Just Kill 'Em?

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Just Kill ‘Em?
The United States has a long history with the death penalty. The “first recorded execution was in Jamestown in 1608” (“Death Penalty in America” 259). Since then, thirty five states have continued to use the death penalty. Now it can be considered a normal punishment and many people feel strongly about it, but maybe we should forget what we have done in the past and take a second look. The death penalty should not be used in the United States because it is too expensive, affects the poor and minorities more than others, and (even though many people think it is true) the death penalty does not deter crime.
A common argument for the death penalty is the idea of “an eye for an eye.” If someone commits murder then they should be killed as a punishment, but how much are we willing to pay for this way of thinking? An eye for an eye comes with a large price tag. According to an article in the California Law Review, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California did a study to see how much California was spending on the death penalty. The ACLU found out that taxpayers spend “$117 million per year seeking execution of the people currently on death row. This number amounts over time to $4 billion more that the state would have spent if these inmates had been sentenced to life without parole” (Colon, 1380). Author Sara Colon also mentions that considering the “current fiscal crisis” in California, “the costs of capital punishment seem prohibited” (Colon, 1380). We could have used those $4 billion dollars on other things like welfare programs, health care, or putting that money into colleges for young people’s education.
Nowadays, it is becoming harder for people to get a college education and Ca...

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...orium panel data. “American Law and Economics Review 5.2 (2003): 344-376.

Hurwitz, John and Mark Peffely. “Persuasion and Resistance: Race and the Death Penalty in America.” American Journal of Political Science Vol 51.4 (2007): pp. 996-1012.

"Introduction to Does Capital Punishment Deter Crime? :At Issue." Does Capital Punishment Deter Crime? Ed. Roman Espejo. San Diego: Green haven Press, 2003. At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.

Jost, Kenneth. "Death Penalty Debates." CQ Researcher 19 Nov. 2010: 965-88. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
Love, A. David. “The Racial Bias of the Us Death Penalty.” The Guardian: January 3, 2012.

Sankin, Aaron. “California Spending More on Prisons Than Colleges, Report Says.” Huffington Post: September 6, 2012.
“The Death Penalty in America: A Cultural and Historical Analysis.” Supreme Court Debates (2004): pp. 259-288.

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