Pros And Cons Of The 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?

However, statistics have shown that the death penalty is applied racially and discriminatorily. Three out of five murder cases in which the victim was white and the defendant was black resulted in the defendant receiving a death penalty. Professor Katherine Beckett of the University of Washington reechoed this fact by stating that, jurors in Washington “were four and a half times more likely to impose a sentence of death when the defendant was black than they were in cases involving similarly situated white defendants.” So where is the justice that advocates of the death penalty are imploring? Moreover, the rich are more likely to escape a death penalty than the poor. The DPIC has reported that most defendants in capital cases cannot afford an attorney. Thus, if equal justice for all is anything to go by, then justice should be equally distributed regardless of race and economic

Imagine that you are arrested and going to be tried for a crime that you did, or did not, commit. What if you cannot afford the cost of a lawyer? Will you be able to handle the physical and mental toll that all of the appeals have on a person? The death penalty, or capital punishment, is one of the most debated topics in America. It has been used for centuries, but many claim it to be barbaric, and want the practice to end all together. The death penalty should only be used in cases where there is absolute evidence that the criminal is guilty, because life in prison can be an alternative, there are many flaws in the justice system, and it can be a cruel and unusual punishment.

The death penalty is still in use in the united states. The state with the most executions is in Texas with a total of 545 from 2017 to the year 1976 (Number of Executions, 2017). The death penalty is a very big debate. There are many reasons why and why people do and don’t like the death penalty.

Statistics prove that for many years the death penalty has fallen disproportionately on racial minorities in the United States. For example, since 1930

A Georgia study found that killers of whites are 4.3 times more likely to receive a death sentence than killers of blacks. More than 75 percent of those on federal death row are non-white. Of the 156 federal death penalty prosecutions approved by the Attorney General since 1988, 74 percent of the defendants were non-white (governmentguide.com) . This shows that there is something definitely wrong with the judicial system. If this isn?t enough to convince you that the death penalty is wrong. Then people may need to look at other reasons.

) Moreover, the pattern of this kind of murderer, the killer, is almost by definition a person who takes his chances like the soldier of fortune he thinks he is. (37) Most killers do not engage in anything like a cost-benefit analysis. They are impulsive, and they kill impulsively. If capital punishment does deter criminals, it can do so only indirectly. Potential murderers must have some standard of right and wrong. They must acknowledge morals issues. They must be without mental illness and they know and have the capacity to think about what they are doing. This conception of general deterrence seems deeply flawed because it rests upon a doubtful conception of how this murderous population internalizes social norms. Although the perpetrator

Many death row inmates were convicted while being defended by a court appointed lawyer who are often the worst paid and most inexperienced and least skillful lawyers. The Bar Association published guidelines for a good defense in a death penalty case”. Anti-death Penalty ( 2010)

A study conducted by the Journal of Quantitative Criminology reveals that for every execution performed, fifteen murders take its place (Durlauf, et al). The study compiled execution statistics and murder rates across states in order to determine the efficacy of deterrence. Granted, executions do not directly lead to murders, but the data exposes the fact that the death penalty has not been successful in preventing them. In fact crime rates increase in states that resume the practice of the death penalty. For example, Florida had a twenty-eight percent increase in murder rates after executing a prisoner in 1979 for the first time after fifteen years (“White

2008 murder rate in death penalty states was 41% higher than the non-death penalty states, 2009 the murder rate was 35% higher than the non-death penalty states (Cooper, 2011). As you can see capital punishment had no influence on preventing criminals from doing illegal acts. Therefore, all of the work and energy that goes into executing a criminal in the name of justice is illogical and ineffective.

First, the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime. There is no relevance of murder rate between the U.S. states with and without the death penalty. While twenty five U.S. states have the highest crime rate, the death penalty is legal in twenty out of these U.S. states. The most of criminals’ mindset is mentally ill and not logical about consequences. Since most of the death row inmate is from the poverty-stricken and disadvantaged community,

Capital punishment does have an effect on murder rates in the United States. Capital punishment is defined as a sentence of death that is recommended as a consequence for an individual who commits a serious crime, such as murder. According to the Death Penalty Information Center (2016) the analysis indicated that throughout the different states there is no major difference within the percentages of states that shows an increase of crimes as it relates to capital punishment. Georgia is a state that does condone capital punishment and in 2010 there were five hundred and fifty eight murders reported. In contrary, Michigan is a state that does not condone capital punishment and in 2010 there were five hundred and sixty seven murders reported. Therefore, after reviewing percentages, there are no indications that suggest capital punishment deters crime. Furthermore, the results

Capital punishment has been a long debated topic of discussion for decades in the United States. Additional controversy over the United States death penalty has risen from a 2014 botched execution in the state of Oklahoma. The incident occurred when the lethal injection was administered and the “drugs meant to kill a convicted murderer did not, though he later died of a heart attack.” (LA Times) The article from the LA Times discusses political backgrounds and climate for capital punishment. There is an argument that we should abolish capital punishment in the United States, while some argue we need to uphold crime and punishment. The article discusses

The article in the textbook The Death Penalty in the United States and Worldwide was fairly informative. One of the points it brought up was the cost of life without parole vs the death penalty, and those costs were stated as life without parole costing 1.1 million dollars vs the death penalty costing 3 million dollars (Schaefer, Richard T, 2009 pg 176). This is a significant difference in price. The text

In our society, racial minorities are excessively poor compared to whites. Approximately 90% of those on death row could not afford to hire a lawyer when they were needed and therefore receive inadequate representation. The wealthy can afford the best lawyers and therefore either get a lesser penalty or get