High Cost Of Death Penalty

In this paper I will be discussing everything you need to know about the death penalty such as its pros and cons. While the innocent can be killed, the death penalty has its pros because it prevents them from killing again if they are released or have escaped from prison, it helps overpopulated prisons, and it can help victims’ families get justice and closure. Not only can the innocent be killed, but in the past the death penalty was very inhumane. To some its feels right but to others they feel like 2 wrongs don’t make a right. Most people think that the defendant deserves the death penalty, but what does the defendants’ family think?

Why is the death penalty used as a means of punishment for crime? Is this just a way to solve the nations growing problem of overcrowded prisons, or is justice really being served? Why do some view the taking of a life morally correct? These questions are discussed and debated upon in every state and national legislature throughout the country. Advantages and disadvantages for the death penalty exist, and many members of the United States, and individual State governments, have differing opinions. Yet it seems that the stronger arguments, and evidence such as cost effectiveness, should lead the common citizen to the opposition of Capital Punishment.

The moral and ethical debate on the sentencing and enforcement of capital punishment has long baffled the citizens and governing powers of the United States. Throughout time, the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, and the vast majority beliefs of Americans, have been in a constant state of perplexity. Before the 1960s, the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution were interpreted as permitting the death penalty. However, in the early 1960s, it was suggested that the death penalty was a "cruel and unusual" punishment and therefore unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. Many argue that capital punishment is an absolute necessity, in order to deter crime, and to ‘make things right’ following a heinous crime of murder. Despite the belief that capital punishment may seem to be the only tangible, permanent solution to ending future capital offenses, the United States should remove this cruel and unnecessary form of punishment from our current judicial systems.

Just by looking at the surface, one would assume that it would be less expensive to execute a prisoner versus providing them with “three hots and a cot” for the rest of their life. Surprisingly, some people support the death penalty mainly because they view it as a way of cutting costs and saving taxpayer’s money. “This argument is disturbing since it reduces the moral complexity of state imposed killing to a debate over dollars and cent.” However, it has now been firmly established by research conducted in different states and with different data that a modern death penalty sentence costs several times more than an alternative sentence of life in prison without parole.

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

In the United States, the use of the death penalty continues to be a controversial issue. Every election year, politicians, wishing to appeal to the moral sentiments of voters, routinely compete with each other as to who will be toughest in extending the death penalty to those persons who have been convicted of first-degree murder. Both proponents and opponents of capital punishment present compelling arguments to support their claims. Often their arguments are made on different interpretations of what is moral in a just society. In this essay, I intend to present major arguments of those who support the death penalty and those who are opposed to state sanctioned executions application . However, I do intend to fairly and accurately

The death penalty wastes the money of the tax payers and is ineffective in stopping crime (Delcour). The cost that it takes to maintain the death penalty could be used for much more important statewide matters. Many law enforcement officials in states with the death penalty claim the money used toward the death penalty is a complete waste of tax dollars (Delcour). An example being, the opinion of law enforcement in states with the death penalty, “The cost of one execution is significantly higher than life imprisonment without parole. At a time when state budgets are slim and cutbacks are the norm, Delcour maintains that the high cost of the death penalty system makes little sense—especially when so many law enforcement officials consider it an ineffective deterrent against homicides and the least efficient use of taxpayer dollars” (Delcour). There are much less expensive ways to punish an inmate that will have a better effect on crime in those states, and cost less. There are greater causes that the money used on the death penalty can be used for. Education is one of the main things that the millions spent on capital punishment could be used for productively. The needs of millions of people in a state are far more important than the execution of a extremely small amount of people. A life-without-parole system would be much better than the current execution system (Delcour). The small amount of

The Death Penalty, or capital punishment is nothing new in the world. SInce the dawn of civilization people were sentenced to death for sometimes even the most minor of crimes, such a theft. As the world has changed in the last few thousand years, so have attitudes toward the Death Penalty,yet it is still a punishment that is carried out throughout the world today. In the United States, as of July of 2015, 31 states in the Union actively carry out the death penalty. Only 19 states have abolished the death penalty and replaced it with life in prison without the possibility of parole as the maximum sentence. However, with the declining popularity of the death penalty in the United States and throughout the world, the question that needs to be

Some Americans today tend to believe that the death penalty is less cheaper to execute someone who is on death row rather than just keeping someone for life in prison. According to a report of the Northern California ACLU (2008) California taxpayers are paying 117 million dollars a year to execute an inmate who is on death row. Whereas if the prisoner would do life without parole in prison, it would only be less expensive. According to a California Jurist Donald McCartin he explains,”It’s 10 times more expensive to kill them than to keep them alive.” (4) In other words, McCartin believes that the death penalty should be abolished and that it would save taxpayers billions of dollars. I can strongly agree with McCartin because instead of wasting, billions of dollars on executions that money can go to schools and more jobs for the community.

In America, $55 billion dollars are spent annually on maintaining prisons and their prisoners. The average death row inmate costs significantly more than the average prisoner due to the increased need of security, staff, lawyers, and eventual execution. A study by the Vera institute of justice stated the average cost nationwide was $31,286 per inmate. A similar report by Samuel R. Gross from 1993 details the financial spending of Florida, revealed that “since 1973 the state had spent over $57 million on capital punishment and executed 18 prisoners, at a cost of over $3.2 million a piece.” This number is far beyond the cost of imprisoning first degree murderers for life without the possibility of parole. This massive discrepancy in price tags undermines the death penalty’s overall effectiveness throughout America. The number of lawyers, attorneys, and trials for a death row case cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions, more than a court case ruling for a life in prison sentence, rendering the death penalty useless and ineffective financially. By eliminating the death penalty, the amount of money that would be saved annually places millions of dollars back into budgets throughout the nation. A testimony from Richard C. Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, explains how “Florida spends $51 million a year and beyond what it would cost to punish all first-degree murderers with

If morals are not enough of a reason to abolish the death penalty, cost sure is. Cost can be measured in both money form and in lives. There is no doubt that the legal is system is costly. From the juries, lawyers, and judges trails can be pretty expensive. One might ask is there a cost difference between life in prison and sentencing one to death? There most certainly is. Numerous numbers can be found on such debate and majority will with no doubt tell you, “executions are just too costly, and that society would be better to substitute life-without-parole sentences for lethal injections” (Muhlhausen). Millions of dollars are used to take care of inmates both on death row and in prison for life but by far, more money is put into death penalty

Much the same as anything we work to accomplish, cost accept an essential part in the death penalty. Restricting viewpoints say that it is altogether more excessive to execute some person than to allow them existence without to claim or parole. Of course, various others restrict this thought. It has been evaluated that existence without any chance to appeal cases will cost 1.2 million to 3.6 million dollars more than that of the death penalty. (Lowe, 2011). All things considered, being sentence to existence without the chance for further appeal continues heading off thirty to forty years, while the yearly cost of confinement is 40,000 to 50,000 dollars for each prisoner consistently (Lowe, 2011). In light of a few noteworthy focuses, cost increases

The purpose of thise paper is to write about the death penalty and how it relates to the American government. I will talk about the three branch of the government which include the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches. I will include research on how these three divisions of the government have an impact on the decisions about death penalty. I will include evidence on how their actions effect the American people. Some of the facts I will cover include the laws from state to state, what President Obama and the Vice President have to say about it and lastly, what cases have been heard in the Supreme court. As far back as ancient laws the death penalty was established because multiple of crimes committed. Information I got from www.deathpenaltyinfo.org states that Death penalties are predicted by the poor quality of

Capital Punishment was adopted by America when the state of Virginia carried out the colonies’ first execution in 1608 (“History of the Death Penalty”). Since then, usage of the death penalty has been instituted by 36 states, making execution the ultimate form of punishment. Although in theory the death penalty seems like a viable method of punishment, in practice, it has serious flaws that damage the integrity of the state. Capital Punishment has been falsely idolized as a deterrent, applied unfairly for generations, used as a vehicle for revenge, and made people blind to the fact that life in prison without parole is an equally acceptable form of punishment. The death penalty is an

This paper will discuss the history of the death penalty, the cost of the death penalty, and its arguments under the law. For many years the death penalty has been utilized to punish the individuals who have committed crimes to the fullest extent that the law will allow, with a slight disagreement surrounding the death penalty. Some of the concerns would be are the criminals rightfully being held to pay for their actions, rather than taking their lives for the crime. In addition, the cost of the death penalty is rather expensive, and lastly the arguments surrounding the death penalty under the law. This paper state a strongly believe that the death penalty is not effective.