Essay about The High Cost of Capital Punishment

The death penalty, or capital punishment, refers to a death to a person by a state for their crimes; where the executive branch made an attempt to address the considered but was unsuccessful, where the Legislative branch talks about and try to modify the death penalty, where the supreme court is handling the cases in trail.

Capital Punishment, also known as the Death Penalty, is described as a government practice where a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for crimes such as murder, treason, espionage, and genocide.

Capital punishment is defined as the legally authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime. There are many arguments that are for and against the death penalty. Majority of these arguments contain broad categories ranging from morality to attorney quality. Although most would support that capital punishment is the closest penalty for murder it is still used unequally across the prison populations. Capital punishment is a practice that the judicial system should abolish for the future generations.

The Death Penalty The death penalty, also known as capital punishment, is the punishment of execution, administered to someone legally convicted of a capital crime. Capital punishment is enacted by the court through different forms after the court proves that one was directly involved in serious crimes such as murder, rape, or even drug trafficking. This form of punishment has been around for many decades. Much controversy surrounds the death penalty.

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is a government sanctioned practice where a person is put to death as a punishment for a crime. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. Among countries around the world, almost all European and many Pacific Area states, and Canada have abolished capital punishment.

What is Capital punishment? Capital punishment is the death penalty. It is used today and was used in ancient times to punish a variety of crimes, Even the bible supports death for murder and other crimes like kidnapping and witchcraft. The Death Penalty is a controversial issue because there are people that state the Death Penalty is wrong and good in some way.

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the lawful infliction of death as a punishment for a crime. Capital punishment could be carried out in five possible ways: electrocution, hanging, lethal injection, gas chamber, and firing squad. In 1790 the first congress decided to use capital punishment for the crimes of: rape, murder, robbery, and forgery of public securities. This method of punishment is still used throughout the united states despite the controversy over it merits and its effectiveness as a deterrent to a serious crime.

Capital Punishment, the process by which the government takes the life of an offender for crimes committed against humanity. Capital Punishment also referred to as the “death penalty” has played a role in the correctional process dating back to 1608 in Jamestown. Over the years the use of Capital Punishment has fluctuated. Like most areas of corrections the death penalty has become reformed and altered to needs of modern day society. Like most controversial issues the majority of people have a firm stance, either supporting or opposing.

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.

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.

With all of the special lawyers, court dates, prison cells and maintenance, a death penalty case can cost millions of dollars. Like a lot of things, capital punishment is paid for with tax dollars. Cases with the death penalty can cost upwards of 1.7 million dollars while cases without it are usually about 740,000 dollars. Maintaining death row prisoners can also bring costs up immensely. One of the most severe instances of these high costs is California. Every year it costs California 180 million dollars more to maintain death row prisoners than it does to maintain LWOP prisoners. They have put thirteen people to death from 1973 until now, and each case has cost 137 million dollars. A 2011 study showed that California has spent four billion dollars on capital punishment since 1976, and that has only grown higher. This is only one of the horrendous examples of our tax dollars at work. Do we really want our hard earned money going towards the killing of what might be innocent

sentence at a fraction of the cost. What else do we get? Perhaps we satisfy a

Punishment is imposed when law is broken and it should work as a thing that scares to crime. Capital punishment is the legal infliction of death as a penalty for violating criminal law. Throughout history, people have been put to death for committing various crimes. Methods of execution have included stoning, drowning, burning at the stake and beheading. Today capital punishment is typically inflicted by administering lethal gas or injection, electrocution, hanging or shooting. Death penalty is the most controversial penal practice

the legally authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime. In many states in the U.S

Well First let me explain what capital punishment is. Capital punishment, the death penalty, or the execution of somebody is the infliction of death upon a person by a judicial process as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences.