A death sentence brings finality to a horrible chapter in the lives of these family members. It would mean that the family members of the victim could then end all sadness of the crime committed and try to forget about it as best they can and know that justice has been served to the defendant. If it wasn’t for the various types of punishment there wouldn’t be a way to deter people from committing crime. The death penalty creates another form of crime deterrent. Prison time is an effective deterrent to a point, with some people more time is needed.
Although the author of this book is clearly against capital punishment, he explores all sides of the issue openly. After reading through this text I find it intriguing to examine the long term versus short term cost effects of the death penalty. Although, the cost of capital punishment is higher up front it is comparatively less expensive when compared to life in prison (prodeathpenalty.com). Costanzo states, “Capital cases are a nightmare for the entire justice system. Police chiefs recognize that death penalty cases are particularly burdensome in the early stages.
This article discusses individual cases and crimes and gives analysis of the arguments made against death penalty in real world. Firstly it discusses the deterrence argument while going through a number of cases. The conclusion is that it has no effect on reducing homicides but ironically it breeds violence as in some cases offenders committed a capital crime in a territory where execution still prevails while they could have easily avoided it. Second thing discussed is the cost, the research in article shows that it costs significantly more money to put a convict to death than to incarcerate him for life in a prison. Moreover it is shown that in many cases criminals are executed while there are reasonable doubts in their convictions and some have avoided execution by just a few hours before being exonerated.
This results in poor representation of convicted people in courts and unfair verdicts. Another issue associated with the penalty is that the value of life is lessened. Government should be concerned with the damage inflicted on society when a person is sentenced to be killed by juries. Being put to death by a people does not seem to be that different from a heinous murder committed by a murderer. With all of the media reporting executions like movies, societies become desensitized and accept death penalty as the right way to take care of criminals.
Shalom wonders what this is saying about our current system that is in force (10). The author reveals that murderers that are unable to pay for their defense are more likely to be sentenced to death then those who are capable of getting a lawyer. Former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall says that “the burden of capital punishment falls upon the poor, the ignorant, and the underprivileged members of society” (11). Shalom concludes that the United States is not the only country that is continuing to practice capital punishment. The other countries are considered to be far from world leaders in human rights.
They put this man to death without evidence to support that he committed this crime. Also the death penalty cost lots of money, people are sometimes falsely accused, and biblical reasons don’t support this. No one should be sentenced to death because of a mistake they made in their life. A person can just be in jail for the rest of their life instead of the government paying for someone to be put to death. It is twice as much money to have the death penalty than to have someone in jail.
Since the capital punishment is still carry on, many opponents and defenders of the death penalty appeal to the sanctity of life. However, the death penalty is not justified. This is because death penalty is not an effective crime deterrent, executed innocent people and it needs a higher cost to carry on. First of all, some opponents argue that death penalty can help deter crime and protect public. For instance, the criminal will think twice before killing for fear of receive the strongest punishment.
Capital punishment does not deter crime; instead it increases the murder rate and there is a chance of error. Therefore, capital punishment should not exist in today’s society because it is an unconstitutional punishment. Capital punishment it’s not necessary and it is also unfair. There is a chance of error, you can execute the wrong person and later on find them innocent. Even though some may argue that death penalty deters crime, studies have shown that it does not.
Most Americans’ support the death penalty to a certain extent, while others want it completely abolished from our nation’s government. People that want it completely abolished will not support the death penalty by any means. The death penalty could put innocence lives to death and the system cost a fortune that could be used for many different other needed resources. My personal belief is that the death penalty should be completely abolished from our nation’s justice system. With recent studies, it shows that the death penalty could cause more issues than not.
When obviously they do not accept it by themselves? The point is the death penalty should not be abolished since it is the only way to stop criminals from killing, and hurting others. “The federal government and most states (38) in the USA have the death penalty. Some states rarely use it. Other states, however, are known as big users of the death penalty.