American Judicial System: The Death Penalty

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Recommended: The controversy surrounding the death penalty

The death penalty has been part of the American judicial system since the country’s founding [1]. Most people see the death penalty as the fairest way to punish those who have killed, because, in the words of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, “the instinct for retribution is part of the nature of man.” I do agree that the deliverance of justice is an important factor in any public policy. However, it is also important to consider the more pragmatic aspects, like the cost to the state. It is possible that the financial cost could be outweighed by the societal benefit. However, upon researching the death penalty, one would discover that the cost of capital punishment is unreasonably high, particularly in the state of California, especially when we consider how rarely the death sentence is actually implemented. In times like these, times of economic turmoil and scarce financial resources, the state cannot afford a system that is so expensive and also so rarely utilized. I believe that, in the state of California, the death penalty is overly expensive and so rarely implemented that it should be abolished. The most expensive part of the capital punishment process is the initial trials and pre-trials [2]. During this phase, the person accused of murder is determined either guilty or innocent. It is also during this phase that they choose whether or not to sentence said person to death. According to statistics from the Death Penalty Information Center, capital trials (cases with the possibility of the death penalty) cost approximately one million dollars more than a non-capital case. To put it another way, the amount of money needed to sentence someone to death could pay for 8 years of school at Harvard University. The attribute c... ... middle of paper ... ... the Fair Administration of Justice, abolishing the death penalty would save the state $125.5 million per year [15]. This money could be used for social programs that help deter young people from a life of crime or drugs. It could also be spent to improve the public school system, the public transit system, and similar basic governmental services. Or we could follow the footsteps of New Jersey, and use the money as restitution to the families of the murder victims [16]. The possibilities are endless. Despite ample evidence that the capital punishment system in California is broken, when ending the death penalty was on the ballot, our state voted to keep it in place [17]. Though this disappointed the opponents of the death penalty, they are not giving up on their cause[18]. Perhaps in the next few elections, the death penalty will be abolished. Only time will tell.

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