The chance of a criminal being sentenced to death is very slim. The number of inmates actually put to death is far less than it was decades ago. This decrease in number shows that the death penalty is faulty. With that being true, many criminals feel that they can get away with a crime and go unpunished. Also, the less that the death sentence is invoked, the more conflicting it becomes when it is actually used.
“Why do we kill people, who kill people, to show that killing people is wrong”. Fair enough as it might seem, but what is the ground for the opposition to the death penalty? It is asserted that death penalty is unjust, Tax Payer waste too much money, and it is a breech of biblical principles in our society. In the U.S. in 2010, 129 people on death row have been released with proof that they were wrongfully convicted.DNA, available have justify most of these convictions. I can’t guarantee we won’t execute innocent people.
Life without parole costs less than the death penalty (Marceau & Whitson, 2013). The death penalty is much more expensive than life in prison, mostly because of the upfront costs of the legal process which is supposed to prevent executions of innocent people. Many opponents of the death penalty argue that the millions of dollars saved by instituting life without parole could be used for education, drug and
Proposal: Death Penalty The death penalty has been an issue in California for a long period of time because it costs too much money just to put prisoners to rest. This problem ended up becoming a proposition in the recent election year and it was called Prop 34. The argument of the death penalty was that some citizens wanted to banned it because it was costing California too much money just to execute the inmates. The people who were voting yes on Prop 34, were voting to not have the death penalty anymore. Citizens who voted no on Prop 34, wanted the death penalty still in action for those who commit extreme crimes.
It is both mentally cruel (to BOTH the guilty party AND the victims family) and it is costly to society. Death is final - if someone is innocent they can never be revived; so, in this opinion, it does not discourage crime. Moreover, the death penalty costs the state and US government millions of dollars for each person put to death, making it obsolete compared to keeping the person in prison for life. Religion can also play a part in this, as many religions disregard and don't believe in putting a person’s to their deaths.The arguments against the death penalty are mainly ethical in their nature, that it is basically wrong to kill and that when the state kills it sends out the wrong message to the rest of the country.The main arguments in favor of restoring the death penalty are those of deterrence and retribution: the theory is that people will be dissuaded from violent crime if they know they will face the ultimate punishment and that people should face the same treatment that they gave out to others.Many people insist that, a sentencing judge is required to consider any mitigating circumstances before imposing the death penalty. If we take a close look at the overall problem with the effectiveness of the death penalty in California, we see that “the average was between conviction and execution”
Although there are many reasons, we will only explore four of the many reasons why the death penalty is an unjust and unfair deterrent for crime and why it should be abolished. First, the death penalty does not deter others from committing the crime of murder. Second, many who are charged with the crime of murder are unable to mount an effective defense since they are unable to pay for the high end lawyers who have a number of resources that are not available to public defenders. Third, in many cases the decision to move forward with a death penalty case is at times politically driven. Lastly, those that continue to support the death penalty have lost faith in our criminal justice system.
At first glance, it may seem that maintaining a life-term prisoner is more burdensome for taxpayers. However, according to Richard C. Dieter, the cost of a death penalty may amount to or even surpass the expenditures of handling less severe punishments for similar cases. Actually, the imposition of capital punishment requires complicated and numerous trials which can take a great amount of time. During this period, the defendant remains incarcerated and his maintenance is paid for with taxpayers’ money. Additional pre-trial time is needed to impose a death sentence as well as the involvement of more experts, more attorneys and additional trials (Dieter).
Sentencing a murderer to jail is not an adequate punishment. The punishment for murder needs to be more server than just going to jail. Being sentenced in a air-conditioned, cable equipped prison where they get 3 free meals a day, personal recreation time, and regular visits with friends and family is not a fair punishment for murderers(Carmical). Other people’s tax money would be going into paying for all of those expenses. However if they are executed, there wouldn’t be a need to pay for all of those
Gun Control refers to the control in ownership of firearms by citizens. The policy is meant to ensure that there are lesser guns in the population and thus reduce the probability of crimes related with guns. Several States have implemented this policy but the strictness of the policy varies from State to State. Its effectiveness in reducing crimes is, however, still in doubt as crimes continue to occur with fewer registered guns being implicated in crimes. According to Cook and Ludwig, the U.S has over 200 million firearms in private hands (Cook & Ludwig, 1996).
Capital punishment saves money and overcrowding in the prisons. The death penalty is the only punishment that would directly compensate for the tragic loss of a loved one. Cons---There are some people against the death penalty because they believe it is not fair to the poor, who cannot afford to hire an attorney to defend them. The poor usually get the death penalty because they are appointed an incompetent court appointed attorney with little or no experience in trying capital cases. There have been a lot of innocent people put to death.