The Death Penalty Debate Essay

the case of the death penalty, so much extra money is spent in legal procedures and appeals that could be spent toward other more deterrent and efficient ways to fighting crime, such as increased police forces, more funding for the war on guns, and other crime-fighting initiatives. In the economic sense, the death penalty is clearly not the smartest and most efficient way to fight crime. One of the most important issues in the debate is the deterrent effect of the death penalty. Deterrent effect…

shows that murder rates were actually higher in states with the death penalty than in states that did not have the death penalty (Death Penalty Information Center, 2010). If the death penalty is a deterrent, wouldn’t these rates be reversed? In an article published in the New York Times entitled ABSENCE OF EXECUTIONS: A special report.; States With No Death Penalty Share Lower Homicide Rates, states that states who do have the death penalty actually have higher murder rates than the national average…

the perpetrator. A final argument posed by proponents of the death penalty is that execution is an effective deterrence. They are convinced that potential murderers will likely think twice before they commit murder. Despite the rhetoric of politicians for the increased use of the death penalty, a number of prominent individuals and organizations have emerged to express their opposition to capital punishment. Along with families of death row prisoners, the International Court of The Hague, the United…

(NAKELL, 1978) The death penalty is much more expensive than life imprisonment without parole. Capital trails are longer and more expensive at every step than other murder trials. Capital cases tend to last several years and can consist of pretrial motions, expert witness investigations, jury selection, and the necessity for two trials; one on guilt and the other on sentencing. Once an individual is sentenced to death, the case automatically gets appealed to the state, then to the Court of Appeals…

It’s debateable whether or not the death penalty is cheaper than LWOP, but it’s not important to the victims of repeat offenders, even if it’s just another prisoner. In American society, the threat of capital punishment stands as the ultimate sentence for a criminal. The moral complications of the taking of another life, whether it is by murder or as legally accepted punishment, remains an unresolved conflict between Americans. Despite the fact that capital punishment…

her. My second premise states that death row criminals are in the same moral category as other human beings with respect to the moral value of their lives. The only factor which differentiates a criminal from a non-criminal is the fact that the criminal, usually irrefutably, violated community standards and the law to commit a crime. In the case of a criminal on death row, he or she would have had to have committed a serious capital crime to receive the death sentence. Since committing a capital…

Senator for Utah Orrin Hatch once said, “Capital punishment is our society’s recognition of the sanctity of human life,” (Brainy Quote). While the arguments for both sides of the debate over the morality of the death penalty are vast, the bottom line is that the death penalty does not disregard human life, but rather it reveres it, as Hatch said. Morality is defined as, “The quality of being in accord with standards of right or good conduct,” (The Free Dictionary). One who seeks to protect a person…

over the death penalty. While supporters of the death penalty thought that the death penalty could be applied without racial and class disparities, research conducted through the years have indicated that race and class disparities have shown not in isolated cases, but in many cases. The authors argue that “Public opinion on the death penalty show that while most Americans recognize the problem of race and class bias, they do not view such discrimination as a reason to oppose the death penalty”…

specific statements regarding death penalty. Who should receive the Death Penalty This fierce debate links us back to whether or not the death penalty should be used only for criminals convicted of murder? According to a recent Gallup survey conducted in (Newport,2009), when 65% of Americans continue to support the use of the death penalty for persons convicted of murder, while 31% opposed it. Nevertheless, despite a worldwide decline in the use of the death penalty, and the fact that it is outlawed…

of the death penalty nationwide have shown some conflicting results. Comparison studies done to show homicide rates of retentionist and abolitionist jurisdictions from 1999 to 2001 (Sorenson & Pilgrim) have shown that death penalty states tend to have a higher murder rate than abolitionist states. This result creates the argument of the overall deterrent effect of execution. Texas is still in the top 20 of states with the highest homicide rate even though it is the highest in death penalty executions…