The Death Penalty Should Not Be Enforced

The death penalty is a punishment given to people who commit heinous crimes. Since 1976, there have been over 1,390 executions. But does that make the death penalty, necessarily, a correct and justifiable form of punishment? “The death penalty is our harshest punishment,” states Ernest van den Haag, author of “The Ultimate Punishment: a Defense.” Van den Haag, in his article, argues how the death penalty is effective and should be used. However, Jack Greenberg, James P. Gray, and Jeffery Reiman, all concur that the death penalty should not be used as a punishment for criminals. Jack Greenberg, author of “Against the American System of Capital Punishment,” argues how the death penalty is an

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

As all of us know that the death penalty is not a good thing, but it is a great way of reform and preventing something happening more than once. All of the US states should not abolish the death penalty.

Some may be shocked to be informed that capital punishment actually costs more than life in prison; that is without parole. Many would figure that the costs would be less for the death penalty because of the food, place of living for the prisoners, etc., but quite frankly, it costs more for a prisoner to be punished to death rather than to having life in prison (Hyden). Some state’s taxes differ but for the state of California, capital punishment costs taxpayers more than $114 million a year (Bushman). Additionally, the taxpayers of California spend $250 million per execution (Bushman). According to the nonpartisan state legislative analyst’s office, the average cost of imprisoning an inmate was around $47,000 per year in 2008-09. In comparison, the death penalty can lead to an additional $50,000 to 90,000 per year, according to the studies found (Ulloa). In more studies, they have estimated the taxpayers to spend $70 million per year on incarceration, plus $775 million on additional federal legal challenges to convictions, and $925 million on automatic appeals with the initial challenges to death penalty cases

As stated before, capital punishment is very costly. $90,000 per year per inmate is the difference between an inmate on death row and one sentenced to life without parole (Tempest, 2005). On average California spends $250 million on each execution, these numbers start to add up and they are most certainly more than what it would be to sentence them to life without parole. The side that is for capital punishment would say that these cost are necessary to keep our

In 2003, a study found that death penalty cases cost 70% more than cases seeking life without parole. The average case seeking the death penalty costs 1.26 million, while the average cases not seeking the death penalty costs 740,000 dollars. For instance, in California, a state that uses the death penalty, it costs about 137 million dollars a year. If they did not use the death penalty, it would cost about 11.5 million dollars a year. The average cost of keeping a criminal in jail each year is anywhere from $30,000 to $168,000, depending when and where they are imprisoned. Many people also believe that using or not the death penalty will act as a deterrence, however 88% of criminologists do not believe that the death penalty has a big impact on preventing crime. 87% say that abolishing the death penalty would also have no big impact on crime and homicide.

The death penalty is a more expensive than the alternative life without the possibility of parole option in monetary terms, time, and resources spent. It is acknowledged that there is no national figure for the exact cost of the death penalty but many states and researchers do have estimates. All of which concluding that the death penalty is the more expensive than life without parole. This option is gradually becoming more expensive with each passing years due to factors that will be discussed from an article from The Marshall Project. The death penalty is more than the physical execution of the accused, it includes money and time dedicated to having inmates on death row. Death row does automatically imply heightened security and extra expenses. Maurice Chammah in his article “Six Reasons the Death Penalty is Becoming More Expensive” states that, “Felons sentenced to life in prison may eventually be placed in the general population, but death row inmates are virtually always housed in administrative segregation, or solitary confinement…” which can mean double or more the cost than of housing general population inmates (Chammah, 2015). The time inmates can spend on death row varies from months to years with the longest being close to 40 years. People do not realize that majority of the death penalty’s cost is not a part of any budget. Instead, they are buried in thicket of legal proceedings and hours spent by judges, clerks, prosecutors, experts and law enforcement

Execution of innocent prisoners, does not produce an overall net intrinsic value compared to alternative punishments. According to statistical data collected, as of October 2015, a total of 156 people have been exonerated while on death row- since 1973. A total of 1,414 people have been executed since that time, meaning one out of ten people on death row are innocent. (“Exoneration of Innocent Men and Women”) This data brings forth the scenario of innocent victims being killed, by flaws in the criminal justice system. Murder of an innocent individual is not morally justifiable, because it would fail

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

In the statistic stated before, there has been 7,482 people executed in the world. Of that 7,482, there has been 117 people that were innocent. This fact is haunting to some people and raise many questions of the death penalty is justified or not. Numerous amounts of people stand by the idea that violence is never the answer and no person should have their actions cost them their life. Imprisonment is

The death penalty can lead to the death of innocent people. For example, “…According to a new study, serious errors occur in almost 70% of all trials leading to the death penalty…”(Leibman). This shows that if 100 people were put on death row, 70 would have serious mistakes in their

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.

“More than 1,000 people executed since 1976 have been innocent.” (Death Penalty Information Center 1). Once a convicted criminal is executed, there is nothing that can be done to make reparations if an error has been made. In 1973, at least eighty-eight people were released from death row, meaning those people were innocent and could have been executed due to the capital punishment process. Currently, there are more than 2,900 inmates that are on death row in the United States and more than 1,400 inmates have been executed since 1976 when the death penalty was reinstated (Executions by Year). The risks that state take in order to feel safe brings a large amount of innocent lives lost.

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.

The death penalty should not apply to juveniles. When considering juveniles there are a lot of boundaries to have for them (Johnson, Welch, 2002). For example, minors can’t vote, or live by themselves, and have bank accounts (Johnson, Welch, 2002). This is a very true when it comes to miners. Furthermore, under the age of 18 you are not even considered an adult. Because of this the death penalty should not even be an option for them.