Why Is The Death Penalty Right Or Wrong

Finally many people say that they do not want thier taxes to go to feed criminals in prison however Statistics from the Death Penalty Information Centre show that Maryland has spent “$186 million dollars on five executions” and California’s cost is roughly “$90,000 per year per inmate. With

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.

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

The Fact sheet found on the Death Penalty Information Center showed that solely in Kansas, there was an average of $400,000 per case for defense costs by inmates placed on death row compared to the average of $100,000 paid per case to defense attorneys when there was no death penalty (DPIC). Alarcon and Mitchell conducted a study in 2011 that showed that just in California getting through the process of having an inmate on death row was over $4,000,000,000 (DPIC). This was due to the various amounts of fees that had to be paid for court trials, appeals, housing death row inmates in preparation for their incarcerations etc. (DPIC) lastly just in the state of Texas, the cost of carrying out a death penalty case, which is $2.3 million is three times as much as housing an inmate in solitary confinement at a maximum-security prison for 4 decades (DPIC). This huge difference in numbers add to how unrighteous it would be to keep the death penalty legal in the U.S.

As Cass R states… “Capital punishment may be morally required, not for retributive reasons, but rather to prevent the taking of innocent lives”. Death penalty is one of those extreme punishments that would create fear in the mind of any person. If murderers are sentenced to death and executed, potential murderers will think twice before killing for fear of losing their own life.

The majority of the United States’ perspective and value of capital punishment is to punish and kill prisoners, but with that system nothing is accomplished. Plus, there is no evidence that the death penalty reduces crime. In fact, most people on Death Row committed their crimes in the heat of passion, while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or while suffering from mental illness. They represent a group that is highly unlikely to make rational decisions based on a fear of future consequences for their

Today's society is filled with many different people from different backgrounds. Some of these people can be unpredictable from doing things such as murdering, raping, or kidnapping. These people are criminals and should not be able to see the light of day for their violent acts. Violent criminals found guilty should face the death penalty.

If criminals had the horrifying threat of the death penalty, they would think before commiting crimes. “The death penalty is a necessary tool to fight and deter crime. Capital punishment deters crime by causing

Capital punishment is used predominantly for, but not exclusively to, the crime of murder. This employs the “eye for an eye” sort of belief system that has been in use for hundreds of years. This type of thinking is backed by a principle that was a key point in Machiavelli’s “The Qualities of a Prince.” Machiavelli contends that “it is much safer to be feared than loved.” This is a mindset that is shared with those who support the death penalty. This is because if one knows that they will die if they perform a certain act, they will generally be unwilling to perform that act. People who use even the slightest bit of logic and reasoning could reach the conclusion that it is better to use the threat of death to keep potential murderers from killing innocent victims than to abolish capital punishment and sacrifice innocent lives.

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

Death Penalty supporters say it is cheaper to kill the convict rather than keep them alive but contrary to that belief it is not. Even though each day it cost the tax payers $55.09 which is roughly $20,108 a year (Hurley), this is nothing compared to the legal fees that the inmate racks up leaving you and I the tax payers to pick up the tab. For an inmate that is death row it cost $68,000 in the due to observation of guards all hours of the day compared to the $38,000 to watch them if they are only on a life sentence (Hurley).

The way we carry out these executions is by lethal injection, which is much more humane than any ways we have carried it out in historical times (McCuen 27). A prison official had claimed, “The guy will just go to sleep forever. It will be easy-real easy” (49). He says said this when referring to a man who was on death row. By using lethal injection, the United States is ridding itself of criminals, and is carrying it out in the most humane way possible (Kurtz). Professor John McAdams of Marquette University said, “If we execute murderers and there is in fact no deterrent effect, we have killed a bunch of murderers. If we fail to execute murderers, and doing so would in fact have deterred other murderers, we have allowed the killing of a bunch of innocent victims. I would much rather risk the former. This, to me, is not a tough call” (Marzilli 21).

The death penalty isn’t an effective way to prevent or reduce crime, costs a whole lot more than life in prison. Oddly the death penalty isn't earmarked for the worst crimes, but for the ones with the worst lawyers. And society just assume that families of victims want the death penalty enforced. Some are just as against it on moral grounds; even those who do support it have said the process of the death penalty is more painful for them to handle.

One of the strongest arguments for the death penalty is that it is seen as the last warning. That it is a lot less likely for people to kill if they know that they will be killed because of it. But people still get murdered, murderers are still out amongst us. If death penalty is used to scare off people, it is not working. Five years ago the murder rate in the US were nearly 15000, fifteen thousand people’s lives were taken. So there were about (and probably still is) about 15k people in the US who are not that afraid of the penalty, or at least not scared enough. Almost every criminal chooses the safety of knowing that you get to live until you die a natural death. It is much less scary for someone who is afraid of death to get a life sentence in prison. This however can’t be promised, since there is a lot of crime inside the prison as well, and there is a chance that you get abused and in some cases also

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.