Inaccurate Death Penalty

Although having the death row may bring the victims closer, The cost of death vs. life in prison is irradical. Prisoners who do not go through the death penalty process only costs $740,000. If the prisoner went through the death penalty process, it would cost more than $1.26 million. If you were too make the process of the death penalty longer, than they would cost more than $90,000 more each year that they are on trial. Since most death procedures now a days are through lethal

It can cost as much as 3 times more to keep a prisoner on death row before execution than it costs to take care of a prisoner with a life sentence. In fact, defense costs alone for death penalty trials cost on average $395,762 per case, compared to $98,963 per case when the death penalty was not sought (Kansas Judicial Council). A study conducted by Seattle University on the costs of the death penalty i.e. the cost of appeals, hiring attorneys, and keeping a prisoner on death row before execution in Washington State found that, a death penalty case costs on average one million dollars more than a similar case that does not warrant a death penalty ($3.07 million versus $2.01 million). In addition, due to the longevity of death penalty cases, mostly as a result of the long appeal processes, statistics have shown the same high cost trends in all of the states that apply the death penalty. Thus, during these times of economic crisis, it is only wise for states and the government to spend and invest taxpayers’ money into more important areas, such as health care and

The eighth Amendment states that the government is prohibited from cruel and unusual punishment. The death penalty is a complete violation of this amendment. Every one, guilty or innocent has the right to live freely, and the government taking away this simplicity of rights, is unconstitutional.

Some may be shocked to be informed that capital punishment actually costs more than life in prison; that is without parole. Many would figure that the costs would be less for the death penalty because of the food, place of living for the prisoners, etc., but quite frankly, it costs more for a prisoner to be punished to death rather than to having life in prison (Hyden). Some state’s taxes differ but for the state of California, capital punishment costs taxpayers more than $114 million a year (Bushman). Additionally, the taxpayers of California spend $250 million per execution (Bushman). According to the nonpartisan state legislative analyst’s office, the average cost of imprisoning an inmate was around $47,000 per year in 2008-09. In comparison, the death penalty can lead to an additional $50,000 to 90,000 per year, according to the studies found (Ulloa). In more studies, they have estimated the taxpayers to spend $70 million per year on incarceration, plus $775 million on additional federal legal challenges to convictions, and $925 million on automatic appeals with the initial challenges to death penalty cases

The eighth amendment claims that there would be no cruel and unusual punishment. Furthermore, Williams writes, “In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court suspended the death penalty on the grounds it violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment (2011, 2)”. Supporters of this do not believe that it is fair to kill someone for a crime. The most common forms of executions in the United States are lethal injection, electrocution, and lethal gas. People believe that these ways of execution are in humane, and according to Williams article -- The Cost of Punishment -- “has no place in society”. Also, people who argue the death penalty say that it is a costly alternative to life sentencing in prison. ( quoted material from argues side cost of punishment.) It also says that on average it only takes twenty thousand dollars to keep an inmate in jail for a year, While the death punishment requires much more money to carry out. Whether it be because of the violation of the eighth amendment, or the cost to carry out, the death penalty is not in agreement with all of the American

The death penalty has been proven to be the most expensive form of punishment in the American government. The cost of having a person on death row varies from state to state, but studies were done at a federal level. Death penalty cases require two trials and on the federal level, a death case is around $621,000, which is 8 times the amount of a case of a murderer that was not tried on death row. If California were to abolish their death penalty system, that would save them over $200 million per year. In New York $170 million was spent in 9 years and none of the cases ended with an execution. Death row prisoners in the U.S. typically spend more than 10 years waiting for

The Fact sheet found on the Death Penalty Information Center showed that solely in Kansas, there was an average of $400,000 per case for defense costs by inmates placed on death row compared to the average of $100,000 paid per case to defense attorneys when there was no death penalty (DPIC). Alarcon and Mitchell conducted a study in 2011 that showed that just in California getting through the process of having an inmate on death row was over $4,000,000,000 (DPIC). This was due to the various amounts of fees that had to be paid for court trials, appeals, housing death row inmates in preparation for their incarcerations etc. (DPIC) lastly just in the state of Texas, the cost of carrying out a death penalty case, which is $2.3 million is three times as much as housing an inmate in solitary confinement at a maximum-security prison for 4 decades (DPIC). This huge difference in numbers add to how unrighteous it would be to keep the death penalty legal in the U.S.

We are so lucky to live in a country without a death penalty. People shouldn’t lose their lives as a result of doing wrong-they should be corrected in a more civilized way that will not only help them understand the consequences for their crime, but also

The eighth amendment is designed to protect us from cruel and unusual punishment. Conservation of the United States Constitution, and all moral ideologies have been set aside. An old form of barbaric punishment and the saying "eye for an eye" is still being widely accepted by Americans today. The old form of barbaric punishment is capital punishment. No matter how "humane" the death penalty has become, it is still the killing of another human being. When people stand outside prisons and cheer that an individual was murdered, there is a problem. When people justify the killing of another person, there

“Life in prison without the possibility of parole keeps the public safe from killers, while eliminating the risk of an irreversible mistake” insisted Brad Bushman in his article “The Death Penalty Is a Flawed Form of Punishment”. This wouldn't be as easy to accept if it was your loved one who was killed and you had the murderer’s fate in your hands. I believe if Bushman had given us a personal experience regarding the death penalty, we could understand his view more clearly. There are three flawed points I would like to bring up about this article, the perspective it was written in, the type of behavior the death penalty models, and the unidentified research that a statement was based on.

The cost of the death penalty cost a lot. If the prisoner stays in jail and they are on death

The cost of the death penalty compared to the life sentence is excessive. Sending someone to jail and letting them die of natural causes is way cheaper than executing them. According to the Los Angeles Times (Williams, 2011) the death penalty cost Californians $184 million a year. Over 20 years, the state would save more than $2.34 billion if they actually sentenced everyone on death row to life in prison. It costs 20 times more for an execution than a life-without-parole case with the cost of attorneys being $300,000 more to represent a person on death row than someone with a life sentence charge. Along with jury selection of capital cases being 3-4 weeks longer and costing $200,000 more and with the heightened security at execution adding $100,663 with many other expenses. The least expensive death penalty trial costs $1.1 million more than the most expensive life-without-parole case. Making lifetime imprisonment the more sensible option cost wise.

Everyone makes mistakes, it is a part of growing up and just life in general, right? But to what extent do mistakes begin to get considered crimes. Society as a whole has basically set boundaries as to what is socially acceptable and what isn’t and are quick to judge without knowing any reasoning. But should death really even be an option for extreme cases? Especially now that it is the twenty first century and the United States has overcome several different hardships throughout history, it would only make sense that the death penalty would get abolished forever. Maybe it is more understandable that it occurs in developing countries but not in one of the most developed countries in the world. From 1977 until now, there have been 1452 executions

Despite all the pros and cons of capital punishment, society must think about what is truly correct and most practical for our world. Capital punishment is not functional in today’s legal system. There are countless amounts of evidence that proves these legal killings to be ineffective. We, as Americans, must correct this irrational practice before it does anymore permanent damage.

The death penalty is faulty in its age and obsolete in its usage, and frankly should be put out of its misery. Capital punishment began its time in the Middle Ages, as people were executed for simply thinking differently from the rest of society. Even now, as we look back on history we find their ways of execution purely barbaric and malicious in all its forms. However, we continue to practice these forms of butchery; the traditional method of execution, hanging, is still an option available in certain states. In addition, couple of states also still allow firing squads, and the electrocution chairs has been readily used throughout the last century. The United States stands as one of the few developed nations with a death penalty still in place. There’s a reason most of the European countries have banned the usage of death as punishment, it’s cruel, unusual and barbaric! Is that the image the U.S. wants to portray the alling regions, one of intolerance and unforgiveness? The United States surpasses those barbaric ways, with its exceedingly advanced ways and state-of-the-art technology, yet it’s one of the only countries left of the Western world that still has