Death Penalty Essay

1757 Words4 Pages

Throughout the United States violent crime has been a persistent problem that state governments are constantly trying to contain, if not eliminate. When a crime arises to the severity of the death penalty many times people instantly jump to the support of pro capital punishment , thinking that the accused should be put to death for killing another person. Currently updated as of 2011, there are 34 death penalty states and 16 states that have abolished the death penalty. In deed, very few issues are as polarizing as that of capital punishment. Support for the death penalty crosses all lines of race, socio-economic status, and religion. Given the right climate and circumstances, anybody can be quick to judge, convict, and condemn. Aside from the vengeful feeling of ‘an eye for an eye’, people are in favor of the death penalty because they feel it deters criminals and its less taxing on our penal system. However, what they fail to realize is that the death penalty has not been found to do either of those things, in fact, states without the death penalty have had consistently lower crime rates. Likewise, people are not correctly aware of what the results of the death penalty have really produced, or that life in prison without parole has been proven to be the more effective and economical path to go. The death penalty has proven to be more costly and a failure as a deterrent to crime. With the cost of the death penalty trial’s and incarceration, the death penalty is significantly much more expensive than the cost of life in prison. First, Trials alone during a death penalty case are one of the main reasons why the death penalty process is so expensive. For example, a twenty four year old man, Dennis Alvarez, was convicte... ... middle of paper ... ...bate on the merits of the death penalty as a deterrent to crime but there is no debate that its a costly inefficient law. Although the amount by which the death penalty far exceeds life in prison can be debated, the fact always remains that its more costly. Furthermore, as previously shown, more than half of the death penalty sentences are overturned, resulting in a sentence of life in prison. The question then becomes, why are they separated in prison in the first place? Does a determination by a judge and jury make the convict more or less dangerous either way? Why spend the extra money separating the death row convicts from the lifers? Has it become clearly established that a death sentence is a greater punishment than life in prison? It is clear that there are too many variable and unknown factors for such a polarizing and severe punishment to be a law.

An Analysis Of Sherman Alexie's Capital Punishment In America
1864 Words | 4 Pages
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 with the involvement law experts, attorneys and additional trials (Dieter). All of these procedures require additional expenditures which make a death trial a costly
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768 Words | 2 Pages
Narration: When it comes to the death penalty there are Opponents and Proponents and although both aim to defend and protect society from crime their beliefs differ in how to accomplish this.
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Death Penalty Essay
909 Words | 2 Pages
Main Point 1: Imagine someone that has been accused of murder and sentenced to death row has to spend almost 17-20 years in jail and then one day get kill. Then later on the person that they killed was not the right person.
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The Death Penalty
853 Words | 2 Pages
The death penalty continues to be an issue of controversy and is an issue that will be debated in the United States for many years to come. According to Hugo A. Bedau, the writer of “The Death Penalty in America”, capital punishment is the lawful infliction of the death penalty. The death penalty has been used since ancient times for a variety of offenses. The Bible says that death should be done to anyone who commits murder, larceny, rapes, and burglary. It appears that public debate on the death penalty has changed over the years and is still changing, but there are still some out there who are for the death penalty and will continue to believe that it’s a good punishment. I always hear a lot of people say “an eye for an eye.” Most people feel strongly that if a criminal took the life of another, their’s should be taken away as well, and I don’t see how the death penalty could deter anyone from committing crimes if your going to do the crime then at that moment your not thinking about being on death role. I don’t think they should be put to death they should just sit in a cell for the rest of their life and think about how they destroy other families. A change in views and attitudes about the death penalty are likely attributed to results from social science research. The changes suggest a gradual movement toward the eventual abolition of capital punishment in America (Radelet and Borg, 2000).
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Death Penalty Persuasive Essay
797 Words | 2 Pages
In conclusion, our justice system is full of flaws and proves to show why the death penalty should be abolished. The reasons for it to be abolished include: financials cost, long drawn out process, more effective sentencing styles, the conviction and execution of an innocent person and the violation of the “cruel and unusual” punishment clause in the Bill of Rights. While the death penalty may seem like the right thing to do under the philosophy of “Eye for Eye”, it only encourages the ongoing process of criminal behavior. Our criminal justice system is blurred and sometimes ineffective when it comes to certain cases. Moreover, justice can be bought rather served.
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Persuasive Essay On The Death Penalty
1657 Words | 4 Pages
For centuries, the death penalty has been used by nations throughout the world. Practices such as stoning, the guillotine, firing squads, electrocution, and lethal injections have all been common practices to condemn criminals who had enacted heinous crimes. In concurrent society, however, capital punishment has begun to be viewed as a barbaric and inhumane. From these judgments, arguments and controversies have erupted over whether or not the United States should continue to practice the death penalty. With advocates and critics arguing over the morality of the death penalty, the reason to why the death penalty exists has been blurred. Because of the death penalty’s ability to thwart future criminals through fear and its practical purposes, the practice of capital punishment should continue in the United States.
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Death Penalty Essay
777 Words | 2 Pages
The people in support of the death penalty say that if murderers are sentenced to death, future committers will think about the consequences before they actually proceed with the crime. However, most murderers don’t expect or plan to be caught and weigh their fate. Because, murders are committed when the murderer is angry or passionate, or by drug abusers and people under the influence of drugs or alcohol ("Deterrence (In Opposition to the Death Penalty)”). Therefore, it will not deter future crimes and will actually increase the amount of murders because of society. As previously stated, the death penalty isn’t proven to prevent future murders and/or crimes because it actually increases the likelihood of committing murder. It doesn’t prevent future murders because it would upset the family and friends of the person who was executed. For example, if someone was executed by the death penalty and it was someones family member, then the person who lost their loved one by the execution would most likely commit murder in anger. If that person was executed the next family member would get angry and so on. The cycle would never end and would have more murders. There is no final proof that the death penalty is a better deterrent than other options. Not having the death penalty would be better because it could save many lives. For example, United States a country that uses the death penalty has a higher murder rate than Europe or Canada which are countries that do not use the death penalty. To get a little specific, the states in the United States that do not use the death penalty have a lower murder rate than the states that do.
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For and Against Death Penalty
678 Words | 2 Pages
The death penalty has been a controversial type of sentencing that has been established since the historical documents have been recorded. The death penalty has been given to criminals who have been convicted of one of the most severe crimes, murder. The United States has established differing opinions amongst the death penalty that has created viewpoints for and against the death penalty. Statistics have also been provided to help show that the use of the death penalty has deterred capital crimes related to murder. The death penalty has also impacted law enforcement by focusing the investigation on compiling the necessary evidence and witness accounts in order to correctly gather all the necessary information. The death penalty has always been controversial in history, but the arguments for and against the abolishment of the death penalty is critical in establishing a correct punishment for the crime committed.
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Persuasive Essay On Death Penalty
2435 Words | 5 Pages
Many people, including some higher educated people, tend to believe that executing someone is a lot cheaper than the alternative, which is life in prison without the possibility of parole. Indeed, this thought seems like common sense. However, extensive research has been conducted that contradicts that belief. For instance, a study conducted in Maryland, in 2008, found that the state spends roughly 1.9 million dollars more per capital case, compared to non-capital cases (Warden, 2009). But how can this be some may ask. Well, the reason capital punishment costs more than life without the possibility of parole, is because death penalty cases are longer and more expensive. Because the capital punishment is an irreversible sentence, the state, or government, is required to heighten the defendant’s due process in order to decrease the chance of the defendant being innocent (DPIC). Furthermore, not only is it more expensive for the trial phase, it is also a higher price for a state to imprison death row inmates compared to other
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Cost of the Death Penalty
1189 Words | 3 Pages
Costs and Consequences of the Death Penalty, written by Mark Costanzo, neatly lists reasons for opposition, and abolishment of, the death penalty. Costanzo provides a review of the history of the death penalty, a review of how the death penalty process is working today, questions on whether or not if the death penalty is inhumane and cheaper than life imprisonment. He also questions if the death penalty is fairly applied and the impact, if any, that it has on deterrence. He closely examines the public's support of the death penalty and questions the morality of the death penalty. Finally, Costanzo provides his own resolution and alternative to the death penalty. Each of these items allows the reader an easy, and once again, neat view of how the death penalty can work against out society rather than for it.
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Death Penalty
735 Words | 2 Pages
When discussing the death penalty many lawful and moral issues are brought up. I was fortunate enough to listen to a representative speak about these issues in a conference held by Housatonic Community College this winter. The speaker was extremely against the death penalty but made good points for each side. For example, proceeding to put a man to death through penalty of law is in fact murder. Just as the man can create an injustice by killing someone else, the government is creating the same injustice by killing that man; however, it providing a sense of justice for the family of the victim. To put a murderer or an alleged murderer through trial, it costs taxpayers a great deal of money. It is a known fact that death penalty trials, on average can cost taxpayers millions of dollars; furthermore, its costs even more money to execute a guilty murderer than it costs to sentence him or her to life imprisonment without bail. Many people view ...
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Capital Punishment Essay - The Death Penalty
1769 Words | 4 Pages
The Death Penalty The death penalty is a very controversial issue. Many people have different opinions about how a criminal should be disciplined. Over 80% of Americans favor the death penalty. Presently, thirty-eight states have the death penalty, but is the concept of "a life for a life" the best way to castigate a criminal?
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Pro Death Penalty Essay
661 Words | 2 Pages
A popular argument says that we spend too much money to incarcerate prisoners. A study done in Florida shows the price tag on issuing a death penalty is 3.1 million dollars; as where the typical life sentence costs 1 million dollars (Walker 108). That is a 3100% difference in the price of executing someone compared to putting them in jail for life. Also, executions take up to fifteen years or longer to be carri...
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Death Penalty Essay
1500 Words | 3 Pages
What if people were executed for a crime they did not commit? It is a very sad but realistic scenario. Innocent lives that are lost are a necessary risk to the government to allow the death penalty to be sought. People put their faith in a government that can one day find them guilty of a crime they may or may not have committed and execute them for it. This is one of the many problems that arise with allowing the death penalty to be used as a form of punishment. Executions have changed drastically over the years by making it non constitutional to execute minors and the mentally disabled, yet many mentally challenged people are still executed today. It is also not a solution to the problem people face with the unjust criminal justice system and the problem with crime people continue to face. The death penalty is far from beneficial to society as it is inhumane and ineffective.
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The Death Penalty Should Be Allowed
1601 Words | 4 Pages
However, on the other hand, to execute death penalty is also costly. In the article, “Death Penalty Is Too Expensive for States, Study Find”, Warren Richey mentioned about the cost of death penalty. For example, in the article, he said “New York spent $170 million over nine years on capital cases before repealing the death penalty. No executions were carried out there. New Jersey spent $253 million over 25 years with no executions.” He also menti...
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Death Penalty Essay

An Analysis Of Sherman Alexie's Capital Punishment In America

Sad Violin Music