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Death Penalty Outline

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Topic: The Death Penalty (Against)
Purpose: To show people the cons of the Death Penalty and to convince them to take action against it.
Thesis Statement: (See item “C.”)
I. Introduction (Attention Step)
A. “Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment.” J.R.R. Tolkein
What happens when the mistake is discovered after a man has been executed for a crime he did not commit? What do we tell his mother, his father, his widow, or even his children? No apology could comfort the friends or family of a man who was executed whom was innocent. Nothing can bring a man back from death.

B. The death penalty is currently legal in 35 states; including Oklahoma and Texas. Since 1976 there have been 1,384 executions carried out. Oklahoma is ranked number 2 in executions at 110, and Texas has executed the most people …show more content…

Body
A. Economics
1. The problem is, it costs more to execute an inmate than life imprisonment. For example, In Texas, a death penalty case costs taxpayers an average of $2.3 million, about three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years. If the 515 executions hadn’t occurred, and these offenders were sentenced life imprisonment without the option of parole, Texas tax payers could’ve saved approximately $790 million.
2. New Jersey, for example, laid off more than 500 police officers in 1991. At the same time, it was implementing a death penalty which would cost an estimated $16 million per year, more than enough to hire the same number of officers at a salary of $30,000 per year.
3. In Texas, the early release of prisoners has meant that inmates are serving only 20 percent of their sentences and re-arrests are common. On the other hand, Texas spent an estimated $183.2 million in just six years on the death penalty. The money used for the death penalty can easily be used to keep dangerous criminals

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