Limiting Death Row Appeals

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Limiting Death Row Appeals

The Constitution of the United States outlines the rights of a person

accused of a crime. The individual has a right to a trial and to be judged by a

jury of his peers. When the result of a trial is a guilty verdict and the

individual is sentenced to death, the individual has a right to appeal the

verdict and the sentence. At the present time, there are virtually no limits on

the number of appeals the individual is entitled to and the process could take

years. Therefore, the process should be altered to limit the number of appeals

to one.

The Supreme Court of the United States re-instituted the death penalty

in 1976. Between that year and 1995, 314 inmates have been executed in the 37

states, districts, and providences of the United States that allow the death

penalty. There are more than 3100 inmates on death row. The majority of

executions are of white males. Most executions are by lethal injection or

electrocution. In the years since the Supreme Court re-instituted the death

penalty through 1994, there have been approximately 467,000 homicides in the

United States. Based on that number, 2.8 people will die every hour at the

hands of another person.

Death row inmates are often on death row for years, some upwards of

twenty years. This puts great financial strain on taxpayers' money. While in

prison, inmates have many privileges, including cable television, the chance to

pursue a college degree, and free health care, all at taxpayers' expense. There

are many law-abiding citizens who don't get these benefits. It is appalling to

think these people have a virtual life of leisure while in prison. There are

some death penalty opponents who believe that convicts don't get enough

privileges and lobby for better living conditions and the rights of the

convicted felons. Lost in this passionate pursuit of human rights are the

rights of the dead victim and those of that victim's family.

The appeal process is lengthy and time-consuming. The appeal process is

almost automatic for individuals sentenced to death. Many appeals are filed by

the convicts in hopes of overturning their conviction or to change their

sentence to life imprisonment. Although a great majority of these cases are

handled pro bono by lawyers ethically opposed to the death penalty, no

consideration is taken in respect to the cost to taxpayers for the local, state,

and federal government to respond to and process these appeals. A little known

fact about the appeals process is that many states have laws providing funds for

the legal defense and appeals for convicted felons.

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