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Recidivism Death Penalty

Decent Essays

For years, the death penalty has been a big controversy. Many have argued that the death penalty is not ethical. Yet, in society today the rate of recidivism and jail overcrowding is increasing. In cases where rehabilitation and reform aren’t possible, the death penalty is a justifiable option.

American taxpayers should not shoulder the financial burden of jailing prisoners for life. One year at Princeton University is approximately $37,000. Whereas, one year at a New Jersey state prison is approximately $44,000. If a 30 year old was sentenced to life in jail, it would cost taxpayers over $2,200,000, if he lived to about 80 years old. American taxpayers are paying for the brunt of the high costs of incarceration. According to the Vera Institute of Justice, True Cost of …show more content…

Not only does the United States have the highest rate of incarceration, many of those prisoners return after they leave . “The Commission studied offenders who were either released from federal prison after serving a sentence of imprisonment or placed on a term of probation in 2005. Nearly half (49.3%) of such offenders were rearrested within eight years for either a new crime or for some other violation of the condition of their probation or release conditions.” (“Recidivism Among Federal Offenders” 5). If criminals were to see a stronger consequence for committing harsh crimes, the rate of reimprisonment would decrease. Many of the individuals jailed are juvenile offenders. “During Fiscal Year 2007, Washington courts entered 11,573 juvenile dispositions. Approximately 79% of the offenders were boys and approximately 51% (5,936) of the dispositions involved offenders who had a history of one or more prior offenses” (“Recidivism of Juvenile Offenders” 1). If harsher penalties, such as the death penalty, are established many juveniles would not show a tendency to

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