Capital Punishment Outline

Besides this, many other governments have realized that capital punishment is also ineffective against murderers and delinquency. In fact, global statistics show that there is more crime and that murder rates do not reflect a decrease in countries using the death penalty.

The death penalty does not help reduce crime. They compare and see the different crime rates between the states. In America's Death Penalty: Just Another Form Of Violence states in the article that “a recent study commissioned by The New York Times examined FBI data and found the death-penalty states average murder rates consistently exceeded those of non-death-penalty states” (Bessler 14). States that do not use capital punishment have lower crime rates than the states that use it. The death penalty does not stop crime but actually influences people to. When the crime rate is high, it also means that it is not as safe to be living there. In the book, Death Row and Capital Punishment, it states that “the places that use the death penalty the least seem to be the safest for police officers” (Kerrigan 45). It is saying that it is safer for officers which also means that it is safer for people too since there will be less crime. There are more cops to help protect people. The thing is that some people are deliberately being targeted and giving harsher punishments than to

Cost: The cost incurred with the death penalty sentence vs. the cost of life in prison

“And despite scientific efforts to implement capital punishment in a "humane" fashion, time and again executions have resulted in degrading spectacles, including the botched lethal injection in April 2014 that took more than 40 minutes to kill Oklahoma inmate Clayton Derrell Lockett and prompted Glossip v. Gross” (Heyns and Mendez). Capital punishment is an inhumane and outdated way for punishing criminals. The use of capital punishment is hundreds of years old in America. It is used as a punishment for criminals who have committed a violent crime in which they physically harm others. The point of the death penalty is to show that these kinds of crimes are not tolerated, and to deter criminals from committing these kinds of crimes. Unfortunately

The death penalty is also widely opposed by people across America because it is argued to be immoral, a form of torture, economically biased, susceptible to error and does not act as a deterrent. In contrast to the opponent’s view, supporters believe that religiously the death penalty is wrong because the Bible says “Thou shalt not kill”. (sixth commandment) It is also argued that if killing is wrong, then the government should not use it as a form of punishment (Death Row on Trial 2001: video) “how can we kill people who kill people to show its wrong” (Death Row on Trial 2001: video) Also when a person is sentenced to death, they are told how they will be killed and when, until finally they are taken to be executed, which could be years after receiving the original sentence. (Washington Post 2008: e.data) This period in which the convicted person must wait is considered to be a form of torture, (Washington Post 2008: e.data; Death Row on Trial 2001: video) especially when in some cases the person will often see or even hear being tested the chair in which they will be executed. (Death Row on Trial 2001: video) Another major

The common argument in support of capital punishment is that it is an effective deterrent for criminals who commit murder or other violent crimes. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, from 1991-2011, the states with the death penalty had higher rates of murder than those without. The statistics for murder rates showed an increase that ranged from

The lawful infliction of death of an individual is what is referred to as death penalty. Majority of the countries in the world have abolished the practice, however, there is no cord that has been officially formed by world countries against its use (Cole, 25). China, which is the most populous country in the world, leads as it executes thousands of inmates yearly. United States of America still practices it even when it is perceived the most democratic republic on earth. As of today, 84 countries in the world retain capital punishment (The Grinnell Literary Societies, 78). However, the number of nations using death penalty is decreasing. With the recent pressure from different human rights watch groups and religious groups more so from the Roman Catholic Church, the world remains optimistic that the practice will be done away with once and for all in all nations (Cole, 42).

“Between 1930 and 2010, 5,093 people were executed in the United States. As of 2010, 35 states and the federal government authorize capital punishment” (Source #2). The death penalty has been brought to court many times. Today most states believe that lethal injection is the most humane method of execution, but some states still have the firing squad, hanging, gas chambers, and electrocution. “All jurisdictions provide for execution by lethal injections. 16 jurisdictions provide for alternative methods of execution, contingent upon the choice of the inmate, the date of the execution or sentence, or the possibility of the method being held unconstitutional”(Source

The high cost of the death penalty is the first thing that will be talked about. the death penalty is much more expensive than life without parole because the Constitution requires a long and complex judicial process for capital cases. In (“The High Cost of the Death Penalty 1”) If the death penalty was replaced with a sentence of Life Without the Possibility of Parole, which costs millions less and also

For centuries, capital punishment has been used as a consequence of capital crime. Criminals who have committed such crimes are subject to facing the death penalty. Pickens shares, “Capital crimes are considered to be treason or terrorist attacks against the government, crimes against property when life is threatened, and crimes against a person that may include murder, assault, and robbery.” Dating back to 1608, the execution of George Kendall is believed to be one of the first recorded cases of capital punishment in the United States (Pickens). Kendall was sentenced to death for aiding the Spanish, which was considered to be a treasonable act at the time (Pickens). Throughout the history of the country, the death penalty has continued to remain an acceptable form of punishment for prisoners convicted of capital crime. Currently, capital punishment is authorized in thirty-one states (“States and Capital Punishment”). In those thirty-one states, five methods are used for execution: lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, hanging, and firing squad (Bushman). Capital punishment should not be a permitted form of punishment in the United States. The use of capital punishment has shown to be an ineffective deterrent of crime, is unconstitutional, and is an expensive process.

While the cost of a death row inmate sitting in prison is high, the death penalty process they can go through costs far more. In an essay entitled “Essay: Facing Facts on the Death Penalty”, James Gray describes how expensive the death penalty process is and why it is costing so much money. Gray states

That is highly inaccurate, as cases with the death penalty cost roughly around $1.26 million, whereas cases without the death penalty cost approximately $740,000. (“Costs of the Death Penalty”). That is a $520,000 difference. The average taxpayers give $90,000 more per year than if it was towards the general prisoner. A recent 2017 estimate by the Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau found that Florida spends $51 million a year to enforce its death penalty, much more than what it would cost to punish all first degree murder cases with life in prison without parole (Dieter). In 1988, it was estimated at $3.2 million. In the span of 29 years, the cost arose by $47.8 million. There is, however, more to the numbers of the overall

"Costs of the Death Penalty." Death Penalty Information Center. Death Penalty Information Center, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2016. This article evaluates studies done in states all over the U.S to show much money is spent on capital punishment. For each state, the author provides a small summary, including statistics, and then provides the link to the original article where the information derived from. Thus, giving this article authority, by citing all sources, and also accuracy because of the studied information from each original article. The article doesn’t cover every state, but the states covered are the most relevant to the topic. I will use this information to show how expensive the death penalty is and compare it to the price of prisons, since cost is one of the main questions asked about the death penalty.

1. A New York Times survey demonstrated that the homicide rate in states with capital punishment have been 48% to 101% higher than those without the death penalty.

I found a chart on the website http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/murder-rates-nationally-and-state. The chart on the site shows that murder rates were actually higher in states with the death penalty than in states that did not have the death penalty (Death Penalty Information Center, 2010). If the death penalty is a deterrent, wouldn’t these rates be reversed? In an article published in the New York Times entitled ABSENCE OF EXECUTIONS: A special report.; States With No Death Penalty Share Lower Homicide Rates, states that states who do have the death penalty actually have higher murder rates than the national average and in the past twenty years the rates have been found to be 48 to 101 percent higher than the states who do not have the death penalty (Bonner, Raymond and Fessenden, Ford, 2000). The article also states that as of 1998 Hawaii had the fifth lowest homicide rate in the nation and Hawaii is one of the states in which no death penalty is enforced (Bonner, Raymond and Fessenden, Ford, 2000). This illustrates to me that the death penalty in fact does not act as a deterrent for one to not commit violent crime. If it were a deterrent it would show that states with the death penalty had lower homicide rates than those states without the death penalty. There is also a statement in the article from John O’Hair, a Detroit District Attorney, that basically stated that