As of January 1, 2010, 3,261 people live on death row (“Death”). Fewer than 3,261 people live in my small town of Belle Plaine, so to me this number is outrageous. Inmates that wait on the death penalty jail create a problem for everyone in the country. If we would put these inmates through the death penalty quickly, we could take the problem away from the country. Why do we keep murderers and criminals on death row around? People argue the controversial topic of the death penalty very thoroughly, and address all sides. On one side people argue that we would save money and the death penalty sets an example for other criminals, while on the opposition people argue that life without parole is cheaper, capital punishment is morally …show more content…
The money spent on prisoners each year adds up, and with the economy being at a low these last few years, why would we want the government to have to pay that kind of money for these criminals? Along with the costs of prison, the cost of court for the government is added in on top for each inmate’s court case. Some people think that just because the government is going to court that they do not have to pay any money, which in fact a false statement. For a life without parole case, it will cost the government $1.2 to $3.6 million dollars more than a death penalty court case (Sharp). Court costs are so much because life without parole cases can be lengthy and last for years. People who like the thought of life without parole would rather see criminals put in jail for life instead of killed. Also, people argue that the death penalty is more expensive because of the court cost which is in fact not true. As I have shown, the life without parole cases cost millions more than a death penalty case. When addressing the death penalty, the morality of the death penalty is a big part of the argument. I agree that killing a person is wrong and should not be done, but is that not why the death row inmates are on death row? The people who do not want the death penalty say that killing a person is morally wrong. Their argument is very understandable; likewise I argue that death row inmates made the choice for themselves. The majority of death row inmates went out and
There are many reasons why I presume this. The debates against the death penalty are mainly moral in their character that it is wrong to kill and when the state kills it sends out the wrong message to the rest of the country. The death penalty should not be legal in the United States because putting the criminal in prison would keep people safe and cost
According to Death Penalty Information Center, (DPIC) As of July 1,2016, there were 2,905 death row inmates being held in prisons. Roughly each one of those inmates are still currently be held for their execution date, on average each criminal that is waiting death row is being held for 14 years. Each prisoner cost 43,352 dollars (roughly) each year. For one inmate to be put on death row for 14 years it would cost 606,928 dollars. Some say that Capital Punishment would put our country into more debt than it already is in. I agree with this theory, but if we would stop holding death row inmates for multiple years, it wouldn't be as much of a punishment to our taxpayers who fund the operations. Also fellow criminals would be detoured from the
it cost million to execute people when the money can be used for therapy. Most people don't realize that carrying out one death sentence costs 2-5 times more than keeping that same criminal in prison for the rest of his life. (Balncedpolitics) It's not unusual for a prisoner to be on death row for 15-20 years. (Balanced poltics) Judges, attorneys, court reporters, clerks, and court facilities all require a substantial investment by the taxpayers. (Balanced politics) all of the studies conclude that the
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 controversy that surrounds the use of capital punishment argues issues that surround the death penalty, but not the death penalty itself. I believe that those who sit on death row are reserved for criminals who commit the worst acts and deserve to have their life taken. These criminals should not be given a second chance, because the life that was taken did not get a second chance. Those who are given the death penalty show the result that they are a danger to society, and they shouldn’t have the possibility of hurting any more people. One could argue that justice would be served while the criminal stays behind bars, two wrongs don’t make a right, and by committing the same offense that the criminal had done while saying it’s okay to do the same only because the state says it’s acceptable. I believe that keeping the death penalty is a morally justified action and is supported by Utilitarianism and the greatest happiness principle. The death penalty is something that should only be used for brutal and premeditated crimes, because of its effectiveness to deter crime, receive retribution, and give closure for victim’s families.
In California there are seven hundred and fourteen inmates sentenced to death row. The death penalty is much more expensive than a life sentence with no parole. In Kansas housing the death row prisoners cost twice as much per year ($49,380) as for the general prisoner is half of that according to forbes.com. In a tough economy the money being spent for the death penalty can add up quickly. Though state and local government’s budget for this it is paid through our tax dollar. It is estimated that the state of California could save ninety million dollars each year by ending the death penalty. The annual cost in California is $137 million for the death penalty, lifetime in jail would be $11.5 million. In our own state it costed us nearly $14.6 million (Omaha.com). Not only is death row expensive but it is unjust and taking a beautiful thing away from so many
Money talks. In the pro capital punishment argument, supporters speak about the cost related to incarceration. In 1996, Martin Kasten published An Economic Analysis of the Death Penalty in which he stated, “Assuming annual incarceration costs are $17,957 and the average life expectancy for a death row inmate is 40 years in prison, the marginal benefit of executing one inmate is $415,071 when discounted at 3 percent over 40 years. When multiplying the benefit by 30, the approximate number of inmates executed every year, the death penalty saves $12,452,130 in reduced incarceration costs” (Kasten). These numbers were over twenty years ago, so imagine with all the inflation, that number is closer to three or four times that amount. This is the cost per inmate, now multiply this number by the thousands of prisoners in all fifty states. While the use of capital punishment is meant to be discretionary, just a few inmates sentenced to capital punishment have the potential to save the taxpayers millions. Those for capital punishment don’t want the money they pay in taxes to go towards supporting the life of someone who has committed a crime; to them it is just providing the criminal with free room and board, access to health care and education programs in jail. To the people for capital punishment this isn’t really a punishment, sure the
First of all, people who are put on death row are there for a worthy reason. People, or criminals, are causing illegal crimes which are usually serious like murder. A ton of the crimes that are caused are for no reason, or something that doesn’t involve the person who is harmed. Everybody knows murder is illegal,
Is it ethical? Are they truly guilty? The multitude of society asks the same questions when debating the death penalty process as a form of punishment. The death penalty can be debated on both sides, for or against, and the debate brings controversial since this is a long standing debatable issue. Both sides have researched statistics and produced evidence with certain factors in favor of or against, in result the death penalty stands in most states but the execution process now has strict guidelines. The guidelines were established for the protection of an innocent inmate wrongly accused being sentenced to death. In response to the guidelines, the financial amount to support a death row inmate expanded greatly due to judicial process and imprisonment requirements for solidarity. Evidence of reduced deterrent value has been inconclusive as the death penalty possesses no value to crime control. Executions of death row inmates have declined drastically while the death penalty is still being sentenced as punishment. Evidently through evidence and statistics, defeasance of the death penalty is preponderant and, ultimately irrefutable.
The death penalty, also known as capital punishment, is when a person is sentenced to death row by the state for a certain crime. The existence of this policy creates huge debate in society as to whether it should be allowed or not. It creates a highly controversial conversation due to many arguments on each side. On average, only a couple people a decade are sentenced to death row, how does this help us? The death penalty does not fix any issues in our broken society, it only makes us more corrupt and hypocritical.
Look into the mirror and know, you could be next. A criminal could walk through your door at any moment, and do God awful things to you. The death penalty is our greatest form of fear; it might scare a criminal not to viciously commit murder. Only 31 states have the death penalty, although all states should have it (ProCon). Why should a killer be allowed to sit in prison, living, while their victims are dead? On this issue, people who oppose the death penalty say that the death penalty is inhumane (Zakeri). Although I understand their point of view, this is ultimately a question of right or wrong. Religion, financial strain on taxpayers, and victim’s rights, are just a few of the reasons that capital punishment should be supported.
The cost of the death penalty is in the millions. It costs far more to execute a person rather than life in prison without parole. For example, life in prison cost tax payers $90,000 a year. Based on the prison population of California, life in prison for criminals who committed first degree murder, would cost 59 million dollars a year. Now, the price tag for the new death sentence for California’s prison for criminals who committed the death penalty, is around $336 million dollars based on the prison population. Paying this fee could have been avoided if the death penalty was illegal in America (Why). Each death penalty case in Texas costs taxpayers about $2.3 million. That is about three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years
First, Nebraska has had a big debate over this issue recently. Nebraska still has the death penalty, but cost is really a huge problem and if anybody wants to keep capital punishment they need to fix the cost issue. As of now Nebraska spends more that 14 million dollars a year to maintain the death penalty. Also about 1.5 million dollars from taxes go to the trials of these people on the death penalty. Over the last 40 years only about 30 out of 100 people being trialed have been on death row, and only a few were actually executed, but there are still millions of dollars being poured into keeping these people there on death row. For the United States over a ten year period death penalty trial costed over one billion dollars. Now let’s say that a man has been caught for several murders and the prosecutors are seeking that he goes on death row. His trial is going to cost over 500,000 dollars, and then keeping him in prison and still look through his case after he is found guilty (Center).
First of all death penalty is morally wrong. David Kennedy, director of the center for Crime Prevention and Control at John Jay college of Criminal Justice said,”...the application of power without justice is brutal. And there is nothing democratic about brutality”(Johnson2). This is statement is true. Killing someone is brutal and is not the most humane way of handling the situation. There is movement on mandatory minimums (sentencing), there is movement on solitary confinement, there is movement on the death penalty (Johnson2). Societies belief that all life is sacred would be violated by death penalty. Solitary confinement would be the most democratic way to deal with felons or offenders. That is my reasoning on why I believe death penalty is morally wrong. Secondly, Death penalty is difficult for state correction officials. The sole question is whether state correction officials are required to publicly reveal the drugs and methods to be used to carry out the execution (Richey1). If felons were put in prison there would be no need for state correction officials to reveal all of that information because the drugs and methods would not be used to begin with. Lawyers of death row inmates say they must know this information so that they can adequately protect their clients form unnecessary pain and suffering during state authorized lethal injections (Richey1). This makes a lot more work for state correction officials. On top of that it makes the whole process longer. Last
The Death Penalty has a good reason as well as the bad. Criminals that has committed horrific crimes such as Child abuse, Rape, Murder etc. Some criminals deserve to be put on Death row and executed. People may feel like justice is not served if the person doesn’t get the death penalty. It is said that if a criminal is jailed they may get out and commit the same crime again. In the United States the death penalty is legal in most states. From 1976 through October 2009 there have been an estimated 1,177 felons have been executed in the United States. In the State of Texas there were 442 (38%) felons executed. Some states don’t believe in the death Penalty States such as Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York,