The Abolishment of the Death Penalty is Necessary to Achieve a Utopian Society

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The Abolishment of the Death Penalty is Necessary to Achieve a Utopian Society

You recently purchase a new car that is said to be the most fuel efficient and safest vehicle on the market. After a few months of driving it you notice that this car is costing you more money on gasoline and upkeep than you thought, and occasionally the airbags deploy, the doors fall off, and the seatbelts unclip while you are driving. Would you keep this car that is not living up to its high expectations? Capital Punishment was said to be a cheaper alternative to life imprisonment; and it claimed to be an effective way to deter people from criminal acts. We have received a "lemon"; our new car, and the death penalty are not proving to be good investments. Its time to take them back to the dealership. The death penalty is not an effective way to resolve the crime problem in our country. The United States of America should abolish Capital Punishment because of the high cost, and its lack of deterrence.

The United States should dispose of the death penalty due to the astronomical price it costs taxpayers to execute a prisoner. It is sometimes suggested that abolishing capital punishment is unfair to the taxpayer, as though life imprisonment were obviously more expensive than executions. If one takes into account all of the relevant costs, the reverse is true. The death penalty is not now, nor has it ever been, a more economical alternative to life imprisonment. A murderer trial normally takes much longer when the death penalty is at issue than when it is not. Litigation costs- including the time of the judges, prosecutors, public defenders, and court reporters are all borne by the taxpayer. Florida, with one of the nations largest death rows, is a ...

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...ngs Police Department. Life imprisonment with out the possibility of parole is an equally effective, cheaper, and more humane way to punish capital criminals. Not only is the cost of executing a prisoner ridiculous, but the death penalty has in no way shown that it deters criminal activity. The abolishment of the death penalty is necessary to achieve the utopian society we as a nation so desire.

Bibliography:

Enc. 1102

Works Cited

Case Against the Death Penalty, The. Amnesty International. 4 October 1999

http://www.dnai.com/~mwood/deathpen.html

Facts and Figures on the Death Penalty. Amnesty International. 4 October 1999

http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/intcam/dp/dpfacts.htm

Lovett, Rob. Telephone Interview. 1 October 1999.

Podweika, Jeff. Personal Interview. 30 September 1999.

Schlussel, Bryan. Personal Interview. 3 October 1999.

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