Capital Punishment is a very controversial topic, there is both irrefutable and critical evidence that supports capital punishment. There is a plethora of inquiry you can ask yourself such as, what kind of limitations are there? How much are we really willing to spend on executions and does the cost outweigh its benefits? Then there is one question that everyone asks, is there credible evidence that supports that capital punishment does in fact deter crime. Based on the evidence there in fact is credible evidence that supports that capital punishment does deter crime. An execution deters murders of Whites, African Americans and other races. Each execution prevents the murder of 0.5 people of other races, 1 white person, and 1.5 African Americans. …show more content…
This extreme penalty was instituted by God subsequent the flood of Noah. According to Genesis 9:5-6, God says, "From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his image. "This is restated in the Ten Commandments, where God mandates, "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13) .Romans 13:1-4 says, "Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil." In regards to Romans 13:1-4, a Christian is clearly taught to be in subjection to the governing authorities. This is a provision for harmony. The evidence states that the bible clearly states that if you take ones life, yours should be taken. This is stated abundantly throughout the bible therefore christian doctrine supports that the death penalty is a necessary …show more content…
The cost of one execution is great deal higher than life imprisonment. At a time when state budgets are slim, for some states with cutbacks the high cost of the death penalty makes little sense. The average cost of a single death penalty varies from 1 million to 3 million. This is just not intelligent. Evidence supports it costs so much to fulfill one execution that it is not intelligent to use the death penalty any longer.(Delcour, Julie) Legislation will not help prevent racial bias in Death Penalty convictions. In August 2009, North Carolina 's Governor signed the Racial Justice Act, which was supposed to ensure that no one would be discriminated against in the sentencing to death. Somebody could use the “Racial Justice Act” to get out of the death penalty, regardless of how much evidence against the person and how brutal the crime. There were 37 prisoners under a sentence of death in the federal system, 43.2 percent were white, while 54.1 percent were African-American. This evidence supports the counterclaim because if someone is using the racial justice act to get out of the death penalty, then the deterrence rates will decrease because everyone else thinks that they can also use the act to get out of envedible.(Servatius,
Additionally, capital punishment is absurdly expensive. In the article, “ Capital Punishment: Deterrent Effects & Capital costs” Jeffery A. Fagan discusses how expensive death penalty cases can be. He
Unlike popular belief, the cost of sentencing someone to death is actually more expensive than a life sentence in prison. In Washington, since the death penalty was reinstated 5 people have been put to death costing taxpayers roughly $120 million, that's roughly $24 million per case (Seattle University, 2015). A reason that people advocate strongly for the death penalty is because they believe that they should not have to pay for the costs to keep criminals fed, sheltered and imprisoned. In fact, 56% of Canadians surveyed believed that the one time cost of a lethal injection is cheaper and will allow their money to go towards something more advantageous like healthcare or education (Angus Reid). This is actually quite different from the truth, in fact is estimated that it costs $740 000 on average to put someone in prison for life. It is also estimated that it costs roughly $1.26 million to sentence someone to death (Seattle University, 2015). (There seems to be a discrepancy between how much a single case costs and how much Washington spent since the death penalty has been reinstated, but I could not find evidence to why that is). Among the reasons why the death penalty is so expensive is the fact that the time in courts is quite lengthy. Jury trials averaged 40.13 days in cases where the death penalty was being sought, but only 16.79 days
to put them on the death penalty. The downfall of capital punishment is that sometimes innocent individuals get put to death, and the cost. Cases without the death penalty cost $740,000, while cases where the death penalty is required cost $1.26 million (Bruck). Maintaining each death row prisoner costs taxpayers $90,000 more per year than a prisoner in general population. Even though there are two downfalls, it is the better option for mass killers.
True crime documentaries are a unique way to present information about real life criminal cases to audiences while at the same time educating and informing them about the implications of crime. That is what the average true crime genre fan might say. To this point, I call bullshit. True crime documentaries have nothing short of a biased, inaccurate reporting and presentation of facts in a way that reinforces the director’s personal agenda.
Does the federal government deserve to determine who gets the death penalty? It is debatable whether or not capital punishment should be expunged. Sending someone to the death, it is an important and serious decision to make. Capital punishment is cruel and unusual punishment. The thought of taking someone’s life is unjustified. Is capital punishment, even beneficial for our society? Capital punishment should be abolished because people can change, their other forms of punishment, and every person has the right to live, regardless of what they have done.
The death penalty. It is a punishment handed down for the most heinous of crimes. The words themselves evoke many, many passionate emotions. The arguments, both for and against, are endless and it seems most of them have merit. In the end, it is ourselves who have to decide what we believe in.
Racism Review: Scholarship and activism toward racial justice. (2010). Race and the Death Penatly 2: Black defendants, White Victims . Retrieved from Racism Review: Scholarship and activism toward racial justice : http://www.racismreview.com/blog/2010/04/17/race-and-the-death-penalty-ii-black-defendants-white-victims/
Race plays a large factor in showing how you are viewed in society. Although there is no longer slavery and separate water fountains, we can still see areas of our daily life clearly affected by race. One of these areas is the criminal justice system and that is because the color of your skin can easily yet unfairly determine if you receive the death penalty. The controversial evidence showing that race is a large contributing factor in death penalty cases shows that there needs to be a change in the system and action taken against these biases. The issue is wide spread throughout the United States and can be proven with statistics. There is a higher probability that a black on white crime will result in a death penalty verdict than black on black or white on black. Race will ultimately define the final ruling of the sentence which is evident in the racial disparities of the death penalty. The amount of blacks on death row can easily be seen considering the majority of the prison population is black or blacks that committed the same crime as a white person but got a harsher sentence. The biases and prejudices that are in our society relating to race come to light when a jury is selected to determine a death sentence. So what is the relationship between race and the death penalty? This paper is set out to prove findings of different race related sentences and why blacks are sentenced to death more for a black on white crime. Looking at the racial divide we once had in early American history and statistics from sources and data regarding the number of blacks on death row/executed, we can expose the issues with this racial dilemma.
Separate studies conducted between 1993 through 2014 reveal that there are racial bias undertones that result in black defendants being sentenced to the death penalty more often when the victim is white, than vice versa. Given the racial stereotypes surrounding African-Americans in regards to drugs, and the now known ungrounded “War on Drugs” subjecting those who traffic in large quantities of drugs to the death penalty would be an egregious misuse of the judicial system with its variety of
Have you ever thought about if the person next to you is a killer or a rapist? If he is, what would you want from the government if he had killed someone you know? He should receive the death penalty! Murderers and rapists should be punished for the crimes they have committed and should pay the price for their wrongdoing. Having the death penalty in our society is humane; it helps the overcrowding problem and gives relief to the families of the victims, who had to go through an event such as murder.
The death penalty or capital punishment is a controversial topic that many people like to ignore, or put on the back burner. The death penalty is a sentence, while capital punishment is the actual execution. It is wrong and immoral. In extreme crime cases where the death penalty would be considered, life without parole is the better consequence. Innocent people could, and have been put to death wrongfully. Racial bias, along with multiple other problems that this consequence holds shows why this sentence is an issue. Despite many flaws this sentence holds, states still actively use it. As of now, there are thirty-one states with the death penalty. The conversation is split between two groups. The people who want to abolish that sentence, and
Capital Punishment Essays - For the Common Good. Putting to death people judged to have committed certain extreme Terrible crimes are a practice of ancient standing, but in the United States. in the second half of the twentieth century, it has become a very controversial issue. Changing views on this difficult issue led the Supreme Court to abolish capital punishment in 1972 but later upheld it in 1977. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard' Although capital punishment is what the people want, there are many.
The cost of the Death Penalty is highly expensive. A case to put someone in jail costs on average two million three hundred thousand dollars on average while to put an inmate in jail for forty years cost on average seven hundred and sixty thousand dollars (Friedman 11). In Texas the death penalty cost three times more money than putting an inmate in the highest security level in a jail for forty years (4). It also takes time for a death penalty case to be processed and a convict to be sentenced to the death penalty. Then it takes more time for the state to act and to administer the death penalty to people on death row. On average it takes ten to twenty years to execute a convicted criminal on death row (Friedman 11). Costs could be lowered by shortening the appeal process but this would only increase the risk of executing an innocent person.
For instance, the 1972 Furman V. Georgia case abolished the death penalty for four years on the grounds that capital punishment was extensive with racial inequalities (Latzer 21). Over twenty five years later, those inequalities are higher than ever. The statistics says that African Americans are twelve percent of the U.S. population, but are 43 percent of the prisoners on death row. Although blacks make up 50 percent of all murder victims, 83 percent of the victims in death penalty cases are white. Since 1976 only ten executions involved a white defendant who had killed a bl...
Capital punishment has been a controversial topic in association to any person condemned to a serious committed crime. Capital punishment has been a historical punishment for any cruel crime. Issues associated to things such as the different methods used for execution in most states, waste of taxpayers’ money by performing execution, and how it does not serve as any form of justice have been a big argument that raise many eyebrows. Capital punishment is still an active form of deterrence in the United States. The history of the death penalty explains the different statistics about capital punishment and provides credible information as to why the form of punishment should be abolished by every state. It is believed