The Cost Of Execution

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

Having to execute prisoners in Texas is a critical issue in our criminal justice system. The executions are carried out on capital murderers. It all started back in the 1800’s when counties carryed out their own exectution method; prisoners were hung. Than, in the1920’s the state of Texas ordered that all executions were to be carried out to Walls Unit, Huntsville for “The Electric Chair.” Ever since 1982, Texas was the first U.S state to execute with the “Lethal Injection.” The executions in Texas are carried out in various ways, but the primary way of executing inmates now is by lethal injection.

Also, the cost of the death penalty is really high, the cost of keeping someone in jail for life which will cost 600,000 per prisoner and just for one person to be put to death is would cost 2.3 million per prisoner. That is not a logical reason to kill someone then to keep them alive because the cost is three time less to keep a person alive in jail for life then to kill

Even after these devastating facts, the death penalty still isn’t being put down in the United States. Thirty two of the fifty states in America allow for capital punishment. Lethal injections are the number one way to execute a criminal in America, and there are many other methods offered in select states. Texas, a state that strongly supports capital punishment, was the first state to carry out lethal injections on December 7, 1982 for the execution of Charles Brooks. Texas is also the first in the number of executions in the United States. If Texas made the death penalty illegal, the number of executions in the United States would decrease dramatically. Electrocution, lethal gas, a firing squad and even hangings still occur in the United States and are secondary options for many criminals in the country.

Not only does it provides justice to survivors of murder victims, but it also allows more resources to be invested into solving other murders and preventing future violence. We should use the hundreds of millions of dollars we'll save to protect some of those essential services, such as education. The annual cost to keep a prisoner in jail is $43,352 per year. The annual cost of sentencing the death penalty $1.26 million. $43,352 per year with life imprisonment would amount to a tremendous amount more that $1.26 million. Claimed 'cost studies,' often performed by or at the will of death penalty opponents, are frequently so incomplete as to be false and misleading. For example, they do not take into account the increase in the cost of life without parole cases if there were no death penalty. It is not cheaper to keep a criminal confined, because most of the time he will appeal just as much causing as many costs as a convict under death

The majority of people would certainly agree with putting an end to this individuals lives believing that is the right thing to do and probably would require less tax money. However, numerous studies have been made on the matter and the results prove that the people who believe that killing accused individuals saves money are erring. According to study conducted by Seattle University found that since 1987 the five total cases in Washington amounted to a total bill gross to the taxpayer of 120 million dollars, around 24 million per execution. In three of the five cases the accused waived some of his appeals reducing the total cost. Furthermore as reported by a Palm Beach Post study (2000) it was found that the cost to execute some of Florida worst criminals the state needs

“Between 1930 and 2010, 5,093 people were executed in the United States. As of 2010, 35 states and the federal government authorize capital punishment” (Source #2). The death penalty has been brought to court many times. Today most states believe that lethal injection is the most humane method of execution, but some states still have the firing squad, hanging, gas chambers, and electrocution. “All jurisdictions provide for execution by lethal injections. 16 jurisdictions provide for alternative methods of execution, contingent upon the choice of the inmate, the date of the execution or sentence, or the possibility of the method being held unconstitutional”(Source

The financial aspect is one of the more discussed topics surrounding the death penalty. “Each execution can cost between $2.5 million and $5 million.” (Fagan 1). Compared to the millions of dollars it takes to execute a single to person to the more affordable cost of housing a prisoner of a range of $20,000-$40,000 a year; we as a society could punish these people for their crimes without killing and for less money.(Hirby 1). The cost for a non-death penalty trial is in the area of $250,000 whereas a trial concerning the death penalty will be in the area of about $1.7 million (Timberman). According to Sarah Timberman from death penalty.org “California has had to spend more than $4 billion on capital punishment alone since it was reinstated in the year 1978 (this is about $308 million for each of the 13 executions carried out)”. On top of the $308 million per trial, there is an additional cost of $184 million for all of the trials including multiple appeals, legal representation for the accused and extra security during the entire trial.

The execution has been carrying over a millennium year. Back in the days, the only way to punish the inmate and another criminal is to execute them. We have seen on television or heard on the radio, Texas is one of the most highly rated executions on the list. Not only in Texas, in the entire states government should completely be banned the capital punishment. Those who are innocent are facing in the death row. As stated in the, eight and fifth amendment it is " cruel and unusual punishment inflicted " on the innocent people and must have a due process before depriving anyone life. The death penalty does not guarantee to prevent the crime. Most of the time criminals will free to go and the innocent will be convicted. Many states cannot afford

There is a better way to execute someone without the risk of killing hundreds of innocents, an example is life without parole, an example is Oregon there is the option of sentencing murderers to life in prison without parole. Every day people are executed by the state for a variety of crimes, sometimes for acts that should not be criminalized. Before people die they are imprisoned for years on death row, not knowing when their time is up, or if they will see their families one last time. Not only is capital punishment morally incorrect but it does not help the economy of the states. Enforcing the death penalty costs Florida $51 million a year above what it would cost to punish all first degree murderers with life in prison without parole. Another example is Texas, the average cost of death penalty is $2.3 million, three times the price payed to imprison someone for fourty years. (Death Penalty Information Centre). Currently the state of California is fighting to eliminate capital punishment with Proposition 62, the passing of this proposition could save the state $150 million per year. A death row sentence costs eighteen more than life in prison, all mosey that could be spent on education, public safety, and crime prevention. (Official Voter Information

COST EFFECTIVENESS: The first reason I think society should do away with capital punishment is because of the cost. Is it cheaper to house an inmate for life or sentence them to death? Many studies have been done and the statistics prove that

All of the studies on the cost of capital punishment conclude it is much more expensive than a system with life sentences as the maximum penalty. Cases without the death penalty cost roughly $740,000 while cases where the death penalty is sought cost about $1.26 million. Maintaining each death row prisoner costs taxpayers $90,000 more per year than a prisoner in general population. (Top 10 Pros… 2015). A study of the cost of the death penalty in Colorado showed that death penalty proceedings required six times the days in court and took much longer to solve than life-without-parole (LWOP) cases. When people try to say it cost less to tax payers to put a man to death then to care for them in prisons for life they are not aware of the facts. Why do these cases take so long from sentencing to execution? After a person is convicted of a capital crime, they tend not to accept a sentence of "death" without a fight. They appeal to a higher court, and a higher one and a higher one, trying to overturn their conviction for any reason. Resolving those numerous appeals takes years. It's built into the system, and it helps to ensure that the State is certain of a person's guilt before the actual execution. According to a study published in 2004 in the Journal of Parable legal studies, five percent of the 5,826 death sentences imposed from 1973 to 1995 were carried out in those years. The study found there was a 68%

One-hundred thirty million dollars are wasted each year on the death penalty, while it costs eleven million dollars for the same number of inmates per year to be put in prison for life without parole. The death penalty is when a person is executed by the state as a punishment which consists of lethal injection, electrocution, lethal gas, firing squad, and hanging. The death penalty has been proven to consume a lot of time. For many cases, they will be denied, therefore wasting time and money that could be used for other problems that the country is facing. All this money that is wasted on the death penalty can be used for something useful like using the money for schools, hospitals, or other sections of the law enforcement like paying more

The death penalty is the most controversial penal practice in the modern world, as it is related to moral level. There are some kinder ways that criminals could be executed, such as injection. For instance, thirty seven states in USA employ lethal injection to punish criminals, according to State by State Lethal Injection (n.d.). However, the nature of these methods is still to kill people. 7A People should deeply consider capital punishment is fair and decrease crime rates, even employing softer methods.

Some of those who support the death penalty base their argument on the fact that it is a cost-effective alternative to life imprisonment. However, it may be more costly to execute an inmate than to have that person serve a life sentence (Amnesty International, 1987). A 1982 study in New York concluded that the average capital murder trial and the first stage of appeals costs U.S. tax-payers 1.8 million dollars (Bohm, 1987). It is estimated that this is less than it would cost to incarcerate someone for one hundred years. Other sources estimate that it can cost up to 2.2 million dollars to obtain and carry out a death sentence (Johnson, 1990). The principal factor in this cost is the appeals process, which lasts an average of ten years and is deemed necessary to reduce the likelihood of the execution of an innocent person.