The Death Penalty Should Be Legal

Nearly 80 percent of murder victim in cases resulting in an execution have been white while 50 percent of murder victims are white 82 percent was found to influence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder or receiving the death penalty.Senator RussFeingold stated "we simply cannot say we live in a country that offers equal justice to all Americans when racial disparities plague the system by which our society imposes the ultimate punishment" (senator RussFeingold 108th congress 2003). A 2007 report concluded that one-third of African American death row inmates in Philadelphia would have received sentence of life improsement if they had not been African-American.In 1990, non-partisan US General Accounting found a pattern of evidence Indicating racial Disparities in the charging, sentencing, and imposition of death penalty (Feb 1,2001)."Justice is never advanced in the taking of a human life"(Writer Activist and Civil Rights Leader Coretta Scott King Feb7, 2006).

Most people don't know that executing one death sentence costs 2-5 times more than keeping that criminal in prison for life. Cases without the death penalty cost $740,000, while cases with the death penalty cost about $1 million. Maintaining each death row prisoner costs taxpayers $90,000

There have been 1466 executions in the United States since 1976. This was the year that the supreme court reinstated the death penalty. They maintained that is was constitutional under the 8th amendment. The death penalty has been around since the beginning of the United States. Although there have been many debates and changes made the death penalty is still used today. The death penalty should stay legal. It should be used for only the most terrible crimes. If there is no serious punishment for serious crimes people are more likely to commit them.

As Americans we all have basic constitutional rights including the rights to life, liberty and personal security. Should there be any action in which a human being are denied these rights? An action in which a human being is no longer considered a human being? Cruel and unusual crimes deserve cruel and unusual penalizing. Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty should remain legal, and possibly used at a higher rate, however the case at hand should be more heavily considered to make sure that the convicted is actually guilty and deserving of such punishment.

Since 2000, there have been over 200 exonerations from death row. More than half of these exonerations are because of DNA evidence that is found which proves a defendant innocent. The reason for these exonerations is that people make mistakes, there is no way to be fully positive of somebody else’s guilt. In some cases, evidence found against a defendant could just come down to bad timing. People may agree or disagree with capital punishment because it can become a very controversial topic. The main argument against the death penalty is that it is no longer morally correct and goes against certain beliefs. The death penalty should remain illegal in Canada because it costs more for taxpayers than life without the possibility of parole, it

The late George Carlin joked: “In prisons, before they give you a lethal injection, they swab your arm with alcohol! […] Well, they don’t want you to get an infection” (Carlin). Ironically, prisoners are treated more humanely when they are on Death Row than if they were standard prisoners. The current process allows for the prisoner to be killed, but is an attempt to prevent degradation of human life. Although the current regulations on the death penalty adhere to the Eighth Amendment (a ban on cruel and unusual punishment), many are upset with the manner in which the execution is carried out(Salgo). Robert Blecker argues that the death penalty should remain lawful and has faith in the government to find a constitutional way to do so,

How would you like to be put into a situation where you or a loved one is innocently executed by the death penalty? I know that I wouldn’t. Seeing this, the death penalty is a very controversial issue in which I believe that it should be banned from its allowance in the United States. The three biggest reasons for this are that innocent people are wrongly executed, it is also a form of revenge, and mental illness plagues some victims of the death penalty

The execution of criminals has been performed by nearly every society to date. The death penalty came to the Americas when European settlers brought the idea of capitol punishment from Britain. The ideology behind taking someone’s life for crimes they have committed is a simple one. If a person commits a hennas crime such as murder or rape, they shall receive the death penalty. In more recent times we now see many countries abolishing the death penalty. The trend suggests that the capitol punishment policies still implemented in the United States may be outdated, but yet there is a large majority in the United States who feel capital punishment is necessary. In contrast there are many that feel that it’s immoral, unconstitutional and should be abolished. The political issue is whether or not capital punishment should be outlawed in the United States. An explanation of capitol punishment and some positions from those who are for and against capital punishment will be given. Next, review the positions of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, and interest groups on the issue and how these positions interplay with values of freedom, order, and equality. Then argue as to why capitol punishment should be outlawed.

Capital crime is something that is meant for people that are found guilty of committing a serious crime, such as murder, rape, or theft. These are offences that should not be taken lightly but by killing the offender, the government is carrying about the action that they are trying to prevent. Also, the wrong person may be sentenced to death. After this person is executed, there is obviously nothing that can be done for the terrible mistake to be reversed. The death penalty should be abolished because it is more expensive than life imprisonment, numerous innocent people are condemned to death row, and it is cruel and inhumane.

The last reason for the unjustness of the death penalty is how race is what determine who lives and who dies. According to PEW research center, “ 82% of the studies , race of the victim was found to influence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder or receiving the death penalty, i.e., those who murdered whites were found more likely to be sentenced to death than those who murdered blacks."

The cost of the death penalty compared to the life sentence is excessive. Sending someone to jail and letting them die of natural causes is way cheaper than executing them. According to the Los Angeles Times (Williams, 2011) the death penalty cost Californians $184 million a year. Over 20 years, the state would save more than $2.34 billion if they actually sentenced everyone on death row to life in prison. It costs 20 times more for an execution than a life-without-parole case with the cost of attorneys being $300,000 more to represent a person on death row than someone with a life sentence charge. Along with jury selection of capital cases being 3-4 weeks longer and costing $200,000 more and with the heightened security at execution adding $100,663 with many other expenses. The least expensive death penalty trial costs $1.1 million more than the most expensive life-without-parole case. Making lifetime imprisonment the more sensible option cost wise.

    There have been many errors and discriminatory problems when it comes to the death penalty. In the article, it states “Finally, there’s the fact that the system is prone to human error and discrimination” (Rust-Tierney 22). After new evidence is found, there are many more trials, and a lot of the people have been freed. Many people believe that if you kill someone, you should not get the same punishment as what you did. Finally, if the murder victim is white or poor, they have a higher chance of getting the death penalty.

Madison Hobley was sentenced to death based on a coerced confession. He was wrongly accused of starting a fire, which killed his wife and child and some others (Six). He was tortured by the police, they hand cuffed him to a wall ring and beat him, then he was taken downtown, where he was handcuffed to a chair and kicked by Sgt. Patrick Garrity (Six). Then they suffocated him with a typewriter cover until he blacked out (Six). Hobley never confessed and nor was he evidence proven that he did it was valid (Six). In 2002 there was hearing that discovered evidence that the jury was intimidated and that the gas canister they said he bought was actually put at the crime scene and had no signs of being burned (Six). Mobley was on death row

When comparing expenses of the death penalty and life imprisonment, the death penalty supersedes life imprisonment. Robert Kaste explains, “If you divide the overall cost by the number of actual executions... the death penalty is very expensive” (npr 1). The overall cost presents a . The process of both situations will cost a lot of money to the state. Cases that do not go through the death penalty cost around $740,000. Death penalty cases average around $1,200,000. Since the inmates on death row have capital cases, the state uses taxpayer money for the inmates their attorney and their legal process. It is reasonable to opt for the less expensive system and use the valuable money for other programs.

Albert Einstein, a theoretical physicist and philosopher of science, once said, no problem can be solved with the same level of thinking that created it (Einstein). The intelligent man expressed his ideas clearly that if a killer kills someone and we also kill the killer then what would be the difference between us and the killer because we both are killers. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 31 States in the United States allow the death penalty and 19 states do not allow the death penalty (“Deterrence”). The death penalty should be abolished in our society because it is not an effective crime deterrent, it puts a strain on our economy, it may result in the loss of innocent lives, and it is racial discrimination.