The Wrong solution

728 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The death penalty reduces crime

To quote the great French novelist and anti death penalty activist Victor Hugo, "What says the law? You will not kill. How does it say it? By killing!" Victor Hugo saw the wrongs in the death penalty and the government's practice of the penalty. It is absurd to see the government put so much energy into executing a single person when there are other alternatives than adding more to the number of lives lost. The practice of the Death Penalty in California should not be allowed to continue because it is a monetary burden, arbitrary, and worst of all cruel. There is a better alternative to such a heinous penalty and that answer is life imprisonment without the chance of parole. Capital punishment has cost taxpayers a total of $4 billion dollars within the span of 1978-2013 when the death penalty was reinstated by the Supreme Court case of Gregg v. Georgia. According to the California Cost study of 2011, by Judge Arthur L. Alarcon & Paula M. Mitchell, it was revealed that “capital cases often cost 10 to 20 times more than murder trials that don’t involve the death penalty.” The death penalty is more expensive when compared to life in prison because of the automatic appeals and the habeas corpus appeals added to a death penalty sentencing. A sentence to death row costs more than $2 million per inmate, where $635,000 is spent by the California automatic appeals panel and $1.58 million is spent by the Federal Public Defender Capital Habeas Units. Those expenses would be eliminated by switching from death penalty to life in prison without parole. The Supreme Court case of Gregg v. Georgia enacted a number of requirements for practicing the death penalty that must be met or not practiced at all. Harry Blackmun, a former Supreme Court ju... ... middle of paper ... ...at all.Lastly, it is inhumane and is not an effective deterrence. The death penalty has no great penal purpose when compared to life in prison without parole. Works Cited Cuomo, Mario M. "Death Penalty Is Dead Wrong: It's Time to Outlaw Capital Punishment in America—Completely." New York Daily News 2 Oct. 2011. Rpt. in The Death Penalty. Ed. Jenny Cromie and Lynn M. Zott. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 7 Apr. 2014. "Inmates Executed, 1978 to Present." Inmates Executed, 1978 to Present. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. Williams, Carol J. "Death Penalty Costs California $184 Million a Year, Study Says." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 20 June 2011. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. "World Socialist Web Site." Texas Carries out Lethal Injection with Drug from Unidentified Source -. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Bryan Stevenson's Close To Death: Reflections On Race And Capital Punishment

    1861 Words  | 4 Pages

    There have been cases where inmates suffer greatly when injected with the deadly concoction. In the guide, “From Critical Thinking to Argument” Zachary Shemtob and David Lat described a case where an inmate showed signs that he was in agonizing pain after being injected with the mixture. Lat and Shemtob wrote, “When another Georgia inmate, Roy Blankenship, was executed in June, the prisoner jerked his head, grimaced, gasped, and lurched, according to a medical expert’s affidavit” (62). Could you imagine being a witness to that? It makes the belief that capital punishment is even more wrong than it was before. Additionally, our eighth amendment is supposed to protect us from cruel and unusual punishment. Blankenship was certainly not given that right. Our government needs to realize that the death penalty extinguishes our protection from cruel and unusual

    Read More

  • Capital Punishment: California's Financial Burden and Legal Nightmare

    1436 Words  | 3 Pages

    Capital Punishment in the state of California represents the ideals of justice in no way which can justify the great financial and legal burden required to maintain a system that has not actually put any person to death since 2006. It is somewhat of a mystery why California voters allow the process to continue despite having opportunities on fairly recent ballots to discontinue the practice. The current implementation of capital punishment in the state of California spends large amounts of money on the many legal proceedings and processes, while carrying out so few executions of death row prisoners that some would label California as a “De-facto prohibition” state regarding it's practices of capital punishment. Capital Punishment in California fails miserably to represent justice for anyone, and should be abolished.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of The Death Penalty In Canada

    1926 Words  | 4 Pages

    Unlike popular belief, the cost of sentencing someone to death is actually more expensive than a life sentence in prison. In Washington, since the death penalty was reinstated 5 people have been put to death costing taxpayers roughly $120 million, that's roughly $24 million per case (Seattle University, 2015). A reason that people advocate strongly for the death penalty is because they believe that they should not have to pay for the costs to keep criminals fed, sheltered and imprisoned. In fact, 56% of Canadians surveyed believed that the one time cost of a lethal injection is cheaper and will allow their money to go towards something more advantageous like healthcare or education (Angus Reid). This is actually quite different from the truth, in fact is estimated that it costs $740 000 on average to put someone in prison for life. It is also estimated that it costs roughly $1.26 million to sentence someone to death (Seattle University, 2015). (There seems to be a discrepancy between how much a single case costs and how much Washington spent since the death penalty has been reinstated, but I could not find evidence to why that is). Among the reasons why the death penalty is so expensive is the fact that the time in courts is quite lengthy. Jury trials averaged 40.13 days in cases where the death penalty was being sought, but only 16.79 days

    Read More

  • The Death Penalty Should Not Exist in Today's Society

    944 Words  | 2 Pages

    ..."Justice Is Not Served with the Death Penalty." The Death Penalty. Ed. Jenny Cromie and Lynn M. Zott. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "The Road to Justice and Peace." blog.nj.com 2 Feb. 2009. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Three Strikes Law

    1172 Words  | 3 Pages

    A report from the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice stated that, “The additional cost of confining an inmate to death row, as compared to the maximum security prisons where those sentenced to life without 69 possibility of parole ordinarily serve their sentences, is $90,000 per year per inmate.94 With California’s current death row population of 670, that accounts for $63.3 million annually. Reducing the

    Read More

  • Make The Death Penalty Quicker, Cheaper and More Effective

    1672 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Death Penalty Should Be Enacted In Illinois

    2389 Words  | 5 Pages

    ...ed United States. U.S. Government Accounting Office. Capital Punishment. Washington: GPO, 1994 Cheatwood, Derral and Keith Harries. The Geography of Execution: The Capital Punishment Quagmire in America. Rowman, 1996 NAACP Legal Defense Fund . Death Row. New York: Hein, 1996 "Ex-Death Row Inmate Cleared of Charges." USA Today 11 Mar. 1999: 2A "Fatal Flaws: Innocence and the Death Penalty." Amnesty International. 10 Oct. 1999 23 Oct. 1999 Gest, Ted. "House Without a Blue Print." US News and World Report 8 Jul. 1996: 41 Stevens, Michelle. "Unfairness in Life and Death." Chicago Sun-Times 7 Feb. 1999: 23A American Bar Association. The Task Ahead: Reconciling Justice with Politics. 1997 United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Uniform Crime Report. Washington: GPO, 1994 Wickham, DeWayne. "Call for a Death Penalty Moratorium." USA Today 8 Feb. 1999: 17A ILKMURPHY

    Read More

  • Capital Punishment

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    Upon examination, one finds capital punishment to be economically weak and deficient. A common misconception of the death penalty is that the cost to execute a convicted criminal is cheaper than to place a convict in prison for life without parole. Due to the United States judicial system, the process of appeals, which is inevitable with cases involving death as the sentence, incurs an extreme cost and is very time consuming. The cost of a capital trial and execution can be two to six times greater than the amount of money needed to house and feed a prisoner for life. "Studies show incarceration costs roughly $20,000 per inmate per year ($800,000 if a person lives 40 years in prison). Research also shows a death-penalty ease costs roughly $2 million per execution," (Kaplan 2). Capital punishment is extremely expensive and depletes state governments of money that could be used for a wide range of programs that are beneficial. As Belolyn Wiliams-Harold, an author for the journal Black Enterprise, writes that county governments are typically responsible for the costs of prosecution and the costs of the criminal trial, including attorney's fees, and salaries for the members of the courtroom. All this money is spent at the expense of the corrections department and crime prevention programs, which are already is strapped for cash (Williams-Harlod 1). These "financial constraints," such as capital punishment, do not promote a healthy, commercial society, but actually cost and harm the public.

    Read More

  • Andrew Urdiales

    1134 Words  | 3 Pages

    "A New Death Penalty for Killer." Chicago Tribune. N.p., 25 May 2004. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Death Penalty

    2435 Words  | 5 Pages

    One of the most repetitive and controversial topics discussed in the criminal justice system, is the death penalty. Capital punishment has been a part of our nation’s history since the creation of our constitution. In fact, as of January 1st, 2016, 2,943 inmates were awaiting their fate on death row (Death Penalty Information Center). Throughout my life, I have always been a strong advocate for the death penalty. During the majority of my undergraduate degree, I was a fierce supporter of capital punishment when discussing the topic in classes. However, throughout many criminal justice courses, I found myself in the minority, regarding the abolishment of the death penalty. While debating this topic, I would always find myself sympathetic to the victims and their families, as one should be, wanting those who were responsible for heinous crimes to

    Read More

  • The Death Penalty Debate

    1491 Words  | 3 Pages

    Banks, Cyndi. "Capital Punishment: Overview." Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.

    Read More

  • The Death Penalty

    1561 Words  | 4 Pages

    The cost of the Death Penalty is highly expensive. A case to put someone in jail costs on average two million three hundred thousand dollars on average while to put an inmate in jail for forty years cost on average seven hundred and sixty thousand dollars (Friedman 11). In Texas the death penalty cost three times more money than putting an inmate in the highest security level in a jail for forty years (4). It also takes time for a death penalty case to be processed and a convict to be sentenced to the death penalty. Then it takes more time for the state to act and to administer the death penalty to people on death row. On average it takes ten to twenty years to execute a convicted criminal on death row (Friedman 11). Costs could be lowered by shortening the appeal process but this would only increase the risk of executing an innocent person.

    Read More

  • History of the Death Penalty and Why It Is Not Wrong

    3309 Words  | 7 Pages

    “The case Against the Death Penalty.” aclu.org. American Civil Liberties Union, 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2013

    Read More

  • The Benefits of the Death Penalty

    1105 Words  | 3 Pages

    Another controversial topic rendering to the death penalty is cost. Is it really more expensive to keep a criminal in prison for life or is it worth while to sentence them to death? Statistics show that the cost of sentencing an individual to life imprisonment and sentencing an individual to the death penalty are generally equivalent to one another. It is the actual act of the execution that raises the costs. To many people the costs seem strange and useless, but to those who lost a loved one to that criminal find it relieving knowing that there is no way he will ever return. In fact, in a survey conducted in 1995, 74% of people support capital punishment even if th...

    Read More

  • Death Penalty Position Paper

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” is how the saying goes. Coined by the infamous Hammurabi’s Code around 1700 BC, this ancient expression has become the basis of a great political debate over the past several decades – the death penalty. While the conflict can be whittled down to a matter of morals, a more pragmatic approach shows defendable points that are far more evidence backed. Supporters of the death penalty advocate that it deters crime, provides closure, and is a just punishment for those who choose to take a human life. Those against the death penalty argue that execution is a betrayal of basic human rights, an ineffective crime deterrent, an economically wasteful option, and an outdated method. The debate has experienced varying levels of attention over the years, but has always kept in the eye of the public. While many still advocate for the continued use of capital punishment, the process is not the most cost effective, efficient, consistent, or up-to-date means of punishment that America could be using today.

    Read More

More about The Wrong solution

Open Document