Anti Death Penalty: Waste of Money and Morally Unsound

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Death Penalty: waste of money and morally unsound. The death penalty in Florida –and in extension our country- is detrimental to our society and an extreme in terms of punishment. To keep an inmate on death row is a long and incredibly expensive process, as well as morally and ethically questionable. It is also a punishment which is very likely sentenced by men and women who are influenced by emotions of sadness, anger, and vengeance rather than a clear and just mind. A much more practical and morally palatable sentence for crimes of a more severe nature would be life without parole. The practice of the death penalty is undoubtedly a timely and significant matter, considering that lives are at stake and extensive amounts of Floridians and Americans taxpayer’s money is being invested in a punishment which is not proven to be entirely moral or fair. The longer the death penalty exists and is legal, the more people will lose their lives. The first reason, and the most easily commutable due to the readily available statistics, is the issue of money. The average length an inmate in Florida spends on death row is 12.68 years prior to execution [1] and about $24 million is spent on each inmate/execution [2]. At first it may not seem that life in prison is less expensive than the death sentence, but due to the tedious appeals process running over the course of this average 12.68 years is on about 38% greater than the total cost of a life without parole sentence [2]. Especially during a time when our country is in a state of economic turmoil, we as a people might want to consider evaluating costly expenses (such as the death penalty) and determine how necessary they are. There are readily available alternatives to the punishment of execution, and 14 states (Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West

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