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Death Penalty Outline

Decent Essays

If we go back the late 1960’s into the 1970’s, the United States was going through a different time. Not only was the technology available, but the beliefs and views of society were different as well. From 1968 to 1972 there was a blanket stay of execution in the United States of America. This means that during this time that there were no executions being done. Now it is up to the states to decide on whether the death penalty is allowed in that state. Considering that the first legal execution of someone was in 1608, there has been a lot of time for the viewpoints on the death penalty to change. There will always be individuals who support the death penalty, and there will always be individuals who oppose the death penalty. This essay will …show more content…

One of the factors in death penalty cases is the amount of time and work that usually goes into them. The percentage of death penalty cases seen by the State Supreme Court is not very high, but the amount of time spent on the cases is more than fifty percent (Pudlow, 2010). When the death penalty cases are taking up so much of the courts time, there is not as much time to focus on other crimes that are considered less serious. It also brings up the issue of how long people are on death row before they are executed. It can take many years before someone that is on death row to actually be executed, which brings up the question of whether or not it is considered cruel to have someone on death row for such a long time. Many people who support the death penalty will counter this argument by saying that the process just needs to be sped up, but it is not as simple as that. With the death penalty, someone’s life is at stake and every step that can be taken to prevent it will most likely be taken. This leads to a prolonged process of appeals that limits the number of individuals that are being executed. Another question that is …show more content…

Even if someone is guilty if they have more money, they are more likely to avoid the death penalty compared to lower income individuals (Van Den Haag, 1968). The process of going through appeals can end up being expensive and getting a defense lawyer that has the time and knowledge to help you avoid conviction will also be expensive. Some individuals believe that the death penalty is cheaper than a lifelong prison sentence but that is not the case. The court fees during trial are usually more expensive because of the amount of time that they take. Even though someone is sentenced to death, they still wait in prison until the day that they are scheduled to receive punishment. While they are in prison they will most likely require more security than the average prisoner. All of the extra steps that are taken when the death penalty is an option keeping increasing the amount of money that is being spent. In the end, the death penalty can come to be more than a lifelong prison

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