The Death Penalty Versus Prison

It can cost as much as 3 times more to keep a prisoner on death row before execution than it costs to take care of a prisoner with a life sentence. In fact, defense costs alone for death penalty trials cost on average $395,762 per case, compared to $98,963 per case when the death penalty was not sought (Kansas Judicial Council). A study conducted by Seattle University on the costs of the death penalty i.e. the cost of appeals, hiring attorneys, and keeping a prisoner on death row before execution in Washington State found that, a death penalty case costs on average one million dollars more than a similar case that does not warrant a death penalty ($3.07 million versus $2.01 million). In addition, due to the longevity of death penalty cases, mostly as a result of the long appeal processes, statistics have shown the same high cost trends in all of the states that apply the death penalty. Thus, during these times of economic crisis, it is only wise for states and the government to spend and invest taxpayers’ money into more important areas, such as health care and

Keeping a prisoner in jail for life will be very expensive considering that it costs $80,000 a year; and the bad news is that the money comes from the taxpayer's pocket. Thousands of people will attack the death penalty. They will give emotional speeches about the one innocent man who might be executed. However, all of these people are forgetting one crucial element. They are forgetting the thousands of victims who die every year. This may sound awkward, but the death penalty saves lives. It saves lives because it stops those who murder from ever murdering again (Bryant). These opinions represent some of the strongest and most influential views that proponents hold. However, if our prison system could rehabilitate more effectively, perhaps those who murdered once, could change.

The death sentence in America has brought financial tolls unto American society and the government. According to Source B, “the death penalty is clearly more expensive than a system handling similar cases with lesser punishment.” Using death as a punishment for wrongful crimes has put America in a tight financial condition the death penalty itself costs more than a combination of smaller punishments. This shows that although incarceration and various types of

Just by looking at the surface, one would assume that it would be less expensive to execute a prisoner versus providing them with “three hots and a cot” for the rest of their life. Surprisingly, some people support the death penalty mainly because they view it as a way of cutting costs and saving taxpayer’s money. “This argument is disturbing since it reduces the moral complexity of state imposed killing to a debate over dollars and cent.” However, it has now been firmly established by research conducted in different states and with different data that a modern death penalty sentence costs several times more than an alternative sentence of life in prison without parole.

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

More than two centuries ago, the death penalty was commonplace in the United States, but today it is becoming increasingly rare. In the article “Should the Death Penalty Be Abolished?”, Diann Rust-Tierney argues that it should be abolished, and Joshua Marquis argues that it should not be abolished. Although the death penalty is prone to error and discrimination, the death penalty should not be abolished because several studies show that the death penalty has a clear deterrent effect, and we need capital punishment for those certain cases in which a killer is beyond redemption.

Much of the court's time could be saved if death row inmates were limited to a set number of appeals in a reasonable amount of time. Facilitating numerous appeals results in many unforeseen costs. In 1992, expenditures on criminal justice activities by all federal, state, and local governments combined reached $299 per capita.(BJS) Ted Bundy's 10 year stay on death row, involving numerous appeals and excessive imprisonment fees, eventually cost the Florida state taxpayers more than $6 million dollars.(Lamar 34) These expenses are unnecessary and unjustifiable and could be alleviated by limiting appeals. In addition to this, public defense expenditures reached a startling $16.4 billion in 1990, which breaks down to about $7 per capita for each case tried in public defense costs alone.(Capital Punishment 1992) Although these figures are for total spending on public defense, it is easy to deduce that by limiting the number of appeals for death row inmates, these figures could be significantly reduced.

The death penalty is a costly way to punish criminals for their heinous crimes. In fact, according to the article “Death of the Death Penalty”, “capital punishment costs six times as much as a life sentence”. These costs could be used for other funding the state will use for their citizens. Instead, these citizens must pay higher taxes in order to execute these inmates. Over time, the amount needed to execute someone will rise and states may need to pull money from other causes and use it to punish criminals.

Some Americans today tend to believe that the death penalty is less cheaper to execute someone who is on death row rather than just keeping someone for life in prison. According to a report of the Northern California ACLU (2008) California taxpayers are paying 117 million dollars a year to execute an inmate who is on death row. Whereas if the prisoner would do life without parole in prison, it would only be less expensive. According to a California Jurist Donald McCartin he explains,”It’s 10 times more expensive to kill them than to keep them alive.” (4) In other words, McCartin believes that the death penalty should be abolished and that it would save taxpayers billions of dollars. I can strongly agree with McCartin because instead of wasting, billions of dollars on executions that money can go to schools and more jobs for the community.

I picked this topic to talk about because it's seems very interesting and it doesn't get talked about a lot like it should be, the death penalty isn't as bad like it was in the 1800. The death penalty and the prison system have changed dramatically over the year. American intellectuals were well influenced by Beccaria. The first attempt of the death penalty in the U.S. was when Thomas Jefferson established a bill amend Virginia's death penalty laws.The punishment was only to be used for crimes such as murder and treason, the law was defeated by one vote.

In America, $55 billion dollars are spent annually on maintaining prisons and their prisoners. The average death row inmate costs significantly more than the average prisoner due to the increased need of security, staff, lawyers, and eventual execution. A study by the Vera institute of justice stated the average cost nationwide was $31,286 per inmate. A similar report by Samuel R. Gross from 1993 details the financial spending of Florida, revealed that “since 1973 the state had spent over $57 million on capital punishment and executed 18 prisoners, at a cost of over $3.2 million a piece.” This number is far beyond the cost of imprisoning first degree murderers for life without the possibility of parole. This massive discrepancy in price tags undermines the death penalty’s overall effectiveness throughout America. The number of lawyers, attorneys, and trials for a death row case cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions, more than a court case ruling for a life in prison sentence, rendering the death penalty useless and ineffective financially. By eliminating the death penalty, the amount of money that would be saved annually places millions of dollars back into budgets throughout the nation. A testimony from Richard C. Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, explains how “Florida spends $51 million a year and beyond what it would cost to punish all first-degree murderers with

Lifetime imprisonment and the death penalty are both punishments used for serious criminals who can be considered “a threat to society”. Life imprisonment can come with the option of possibility of parole throughout serving their sentencing or a life sentence without parole. The life sentence is a commonly used punishment between the two due to the fact in the United States of America only 31 of the 50 states still use the death penalty. The remaining states are left with a death penalty ban. Between the two punishments, the life sentence is the most practical and provides the most justice for the wronged compared to the death penalty that is very costly, inhumane but almost too easy and can and has put innocent lives at risk.

This database discuses the financial cost that the United States spends in either the prosecution or the incarnation of an inmate. It furthermore explains how no matter how many people the capital kills; human beings still cannot expect 100% safety. Danger will always follow everyone in every step they take. However, it also explains how keeping an inmate alive and continuing a criminal case cost more than the death penalty; the cost are high because of the living and security that is required. Also, prisoners serving while sick have much higher cost because of the medical bills. The database gives two points of view on how capital punishment is costly on both keeping someone alive or killing them.

Upon examination, one finds capital punishment to be economically weak and deficient. A common misconception of the death penalty is that the cost to execute a convicted criminal is cheaper than to place a convict in prison for life without parole. Due to the United States judicial system, the process of appeals,

The death penalty is something few people love. Death penalty involves a myriad of bureaucratic processes given that the judiciary must use long and complicated sessions to ensure no citizen is wrongly executed for the crimes they have not done. However, there are cases where even the innocent persons are not protected from mischievous executions and end up being executed for crimes they did not commit. Most people argue that death penalty is cruel while life imprisonment is inhumane but less cruel. There is also the possibility of parole in case of a life sentence. Apparently, life imprisonment is a better than death penalty given that it costs less, and the money saved can be channeled to some other important programs that improve the life of the citizens. The detention also reduces the possibility of the accused to reverse the mistake. Millions of dollars saved are advantageous in improving schools, infrastructure, police forces, strengthening public programs, improving mental health services, enabling drug treatment, and preventing child abuse. This piece of writing will argue why life imprisonment is better than death penalty.