Abolishing the Death Penality

It is expensive and varies in different states. It cost Florida $51 million a year above what it would cost to punish all first degree murderers with life in prison without parole, and a death penalty case in Texas would cost an average of $2.3 million – three times as much of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest level for 40 years! (Facts). Instead of spending money for individual criminals, the government can save that money and spend it on the prison facility to create more space.  The money can also be used towards the murdered victim’s families. Most family members who have “lost [loved] ones to murder” sense that the death penalty does not help them (Death Penalty).  The reason why death penalty cases cost more than typical cases is because all of the judges, lawyers, and other personnel would spend more hours into preparing, trying, and reviewing the issues, given that a life is at stake. Judge Gregory Frost estimated that he and his staff spends “40 to 60 hours per month on some aspect” of the death penalty cases, and that the hearings could last from “a few hours to multiple days” (Death-penalty). Instead of spending an excessive amount of money on the death penalty, the money could be devoted to therapies, counseling sessions, or places that could be helpful for the murdered victim’s families.  The government can also spend that money for the community.  They can help by repairing highways, street lights, and annihilated

To add without a doubt that killing another person is a terrible crime that one can commit. our government is states that capital punishment is the wright choices because, after all, the criminal did murder an innocent victim, and therefore should be killed. known as and "eye-for-an-eye, and tooth-for-a- tooth theory." Of course, if we used this system all the time, there would be no need for laws. If someone hits me, I would hit him/her back. How simple, we can all be primitive again. Also, some people support capital punishment the fear of being killed is going to stop criminals from murdering.

Using the death penalty cost more than life in prison. Having to execute someone costs about 1.26 million dollars while life in prison costs 740,000 thousand dollars. 31 states out of 19 still use the death penalty. There is a noticeable difference between the states that use and those that do not use the death penalty like lower homicide rates and the effects it has on society. The death penalty is a tool that people say helps stop crime and makes the world a safer place but studies show that the death penalty has bad effects. The death penalty actually increases crime and has bad effects on society. There have been studies and statistics used to see how the death penalty affects people and if it is actually helping or increasing crime. There

Some may be shocked to be informed that capital punishment actually costs more than life in prison; that is without parole. Many would figure that the costs would be less for the death penalty because of the food, place of living for the prisoners, etc., but quite frankly, it costs more for a prisoner to be punished to death rather than to having life in prison (Hyden). Some state’s taxes differ but for the state of California, capital punishment costs taxpayers more than $114 million a year (Bushman). Additionally, the taxpayers of California spend $250 million per execution (Bushman). According to the nonpartisan state legislative analyst’s office, the average cost of imprisoning an inmate was around $47,000 per year in 2008-09. In comparison, the death penalty can lead to an additional $50,000 to 90,000 per year, according to the studies found (Ulloa). In more studies, they have estimated the taxpayers to spend $70 million per year on incarceration, plus $775 million on additional federal legal challenges to convictions, and $925 million on automatic appeals with the initial challenges to death penalty cases

As stated before, capital punishment is very costly. $90,000 per year per inmate is the difference between an inmate on death row and one sentenced to life without parole (Tempest, 2005). On average California spends $250 million on each execution, these numbers start to add up and they are most certainly more than what it would be to sentence them to life without parole. The side that is for capital punishment would say that these cost are necessary to keep our

Capital punishment comes at a hefty price. A lot of tax dollars go to this supposed “justified deterrence” that is intended to reduce the rate of murder and crime. The money could be put to better use, such as reforming the criminal justice system and put funding into low-income neighborhoods and programs for at-risk youths. These would be better alternatives to the death penalty. Another point is the level effectiveness of the death penalty.

The death penalty is a more expensive than the alternative life without the possibility of parole option in monetary terms, time, and resources spent. It is acknowledged that there is no national figure for the exact cost of the death penalty but many states and researchers do have estimates. All of which concluding that the death penalty is the more expensive than life without parole. This option is gradually becoming more expensive with each passing years due to factors that will be discussed from an article from The Marshall Project. The death penalty is more than the physical execution of the accused, it includes money and time dedicated to having inmates on death row. Death row does automatically imply heightened security and extra expenses. Maurice Chammah in his article “Six Reasons the Death Penalty is Becoming More Expensive” states that, “Felons sentenced to life in prison may eventually be placed in the general population, but death row inmates are virtually always housed in administrative segregation, or solitary confinement…” which can mean double or more the cost than of housing general population inmates (Chammah, 2015). The time inmates can spend on death row varies from months to years with the longest being close to 40 years. People do not realize that majority of the death penalty’s cost is not a part of any budget. Instead, they are buried in thicket of legal proceedings and hours spent by judges, clerks, prosecutors, experts and law enforcement

The future of the death penalty lies unclear in the cross-country battle over whether or not it should be abolished. The death penalty should in fact be abolished because of the extreme costs and painful time involved to house and execute inmates, the indecision of which method of execution is the most humane, and the increasing number of innocent inmates being wrongfully executed.

Many counties complain about the high costs and the financial difficulty it causes. The document, What Politicians Don’t Say About the High Costs of the Death Penalty, written by Richard C. Dieter, executive director of The Death Penalty Information Center states, “Georgia is laying off 900 correctional personnel and New Jersey has had to dismiss 500 police officers. Yet these same states, and many others like them, are pouring millions of dollars into the death penalty with no resultant reduction in crime.” These cost of these trial are not only immense amounts of money to the local governments, but also people’s jobs and lives. It is an unnecessary process that millions of dollars are being poured into each

Not only does the death penalty not deter crime but it is also very expensive. The death penalty costs so much because of the appeal process. The appeal process is a very long and expensive process that can go on forever and costs the government millions. Many assume that abolishing the death penalty is wrong because it becomes unfair to the taxpayers because they think the cost is less than that of life in prison without parole. However life in prison is less expensive than the death penalty (Bedau). The death penalty is actually three times more than keeping a prisoner in prison for life without parole (Messerli). Death penalty trials are costly as well. “[S]tudies estimate that death penalty trials cost $1

in the United States because it is a financial burden on the American people and not an

The death penalty is ineffective because it is an awfully expensive part of the criminal justice system which spends on average, about fifteen years to sentence and execute a criminal (Dieter). In a recent study, Richard C. Dieter states that “about 275 inmates have been on death row for 24 years or more” and “only about 15% of those who have been sentenced to death have been executed.” The time being spent on death row for these individuals may be jeopardized if some inmates were to be proven innocent. In fact, in California, to confine one inmate to death, row would be nearly $90,000 per year more than a maximum-security prison for the inmate (Dieter). With the current population of over 700 criminals on death row, the costs would sum up to

"An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" (Bible). The death penalty seems like a fair execution for inmates who have committed murder. In reality, people need to realize that they're putting the blood of another person on their hands, the death of a murderer will not make a victim return back to life. It makes them as guilty as the person who committed the crime, but the only difference is that they didn't use a weapon. The whole purpose of criminal justice is to prevent crime and rehabilitate convicts. Life in prison allows inmates to change and pay for their crime but the death penalty will just give them an easy way to escape. Capital punishment brings no benefits and should be abolished because of its cost, discrimination and condemns who were innocent.

The death penalty is very costly to not only the government, but also society. The death penalty has no benefits at all and should be

The cost of the death penalty compared to the life sentence is excessive. Sending someone to jail and letting them die of natural causes is way cheaper than executing them. According to the Los Angeles Times (Williams, 2011) the death penalty cost Californians $184 million a year. Over 20 years, the state would save more than $2.34 billion if they actually sentenced everyone on death row to life in prison. It costs 20 times more for an execution than a life-without-parole case with the cost of attorneys being $300,000 more to represent a person on death row than someone with a life sentence charge. Along with jury selection of capital cases being 3-4 weeks longer and costing $200,000 more and with the heightened security at execution adding $100,663 with many other expenses. The least expensive death penalty trial costs $1.1 million more than the most expensive life-without-parole case. Making lifetime imprisonment the more sensible option cost wise.