Cost of the Death Penalty Essay

life sentence at a fraction of the cost. What else do we get? Perhaps we satisfy a need for revenge. Perhaps we feel that we need to keep revenge alive at any price. After all, we pay top dollar for it. So who exactly is the target of our vengeance and why? From 1930 to 1980 executions for whites numbered 1754 compared to 2066 for blacks (Bedau 1982). In 1978 blacks claimed 4888 murder victims. Of these, 536 were white or 12% (Bedau 1982). About half the death row population was black and 85% of…

the Court voted that the death penalty statutes were vague and ambiguous, providing little guidance to juries in deciding whether to apply the death penalty. This caused states which still wanted the death penalty to revise their legislation to satisfy the Supreme Court’s objection to the arbitrary nature of execution. State governments tried two new strategies to be more specific and direct in death penalty trials: guided discretion and the mandatory death penalty. In Gregg v. Georgia, 428…

of the death row inmates are diagnosed with some form of mental illness. Second, ending the death penalty would cost less, when involving the physical and emotional costs of the punishment. Within the physical aspects of the death penalty, it costs around 90,000 a year per inmate to stay on death row. The average estimated amount for each inmate, in total, is two million dollars. Death row costs almost four times as much as life imprisonment without parole. Since the death penalty costs such a…

It is irrational to think that the death penalty – a remote threat at best – will avert murders committed in drug turf wars or by street-level dealers” (Bedau). This shows that the death penalty is not stopping murders from occurring. The introduction to the death penalty conducted a survey were top criminologists stated that the death penalty does not deter homicide rates (Introduction). “For 2009, the average Murder Rate of Death Penalty States was 4.9 [Murder rates by the 100,000], while the average…

that kind of money for these criminals? Along with the costs of prison, the cost of court for the government is added in on top for each inmate’s court case. Some people think that just because the government is going to court that they do not have to pay any money, which in fact a false statement. For a life without parole case, it will cost the government $1.2 to $3.6 million dollars more than a death penalty court case (Sharp). Court costs are so much because life without parole cases can be…

A North Carolina study found that death penalty trials take 4 times longer and cost $200,000 more than non-death penalty trials. In California, capital punishment trials are six times more costly than other murder trials. A Kansas study also found that capital punishment trials cost an extraordinary amount more than ordinary murder trials. The irreversibility of the death sentence causes courts to heighten due processing through preparation and through the course of the trial. In the North…

Then a second penalty phase takes place and the prosecution will state the aggravating factors and the defense can show mitigating factors ("Pros and cons of controversial issues," 2009). The jury must unanimously agree to the death penalty and if one objects then the death penalty cannot be given ("Pros and cons of controversial issues," 2009). If the death penalty is handed down, then the defendant has an automatic right to appeal at both the State and Federal levels. This process can take up…

carried out it will cost an additional 2.5 to 3 million dollars per execution. iii. Data: There are currently 3,061 inmates waiting to be executed, which will cost approximately $9.1 billion while giving them life imprisonment without the possibility of parole would cost $3 billion. b. Supporting Point: The death penalty brings with it many issues of morality. i. Data: As it is put on the homepage of nodeathpenalty.org in an article entitled “Campaign to end the Death Penalty,” it is cruel and unusual…

Against the Death Penalty “Murder is wrong” (“Capital Punishment”). We’ve been taught this indisputable truth since childhood. The death penalty is defined as one human taking the life of another. Coincidentally, that is a classification of murder. There are as many as thirty-six states with the death penalty, and it’s essential that they change it. The United States needs the death penalty abolished because it is filled with flaws, cruel and immoral, and is an ineffective means of deterrent…

Additionally, because the death penalty is such an ultimate decision, the number of court trials required to follow through with the sentence builds up significant costs as well. From a purely pragmatic standpoint, the elimination of the death penalty would be beneficial due to the economic ease it would bring. The death penalty is inefficient means of punishment in both process and methodology. Due process by which criminals are tried is a lengthy and elaborate process. Convicts can make repeated…