More handpicked essays just for you.
Essays on why capital punishment should be abolished
Essays about the capital punishment
Capital punishment in the us overview
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The death penalty is wrong and disturbing. It is very expensive and it is not even the best punishment. Most the time the people that are sitting on death row are proven innocence after many years. The death penalty should be banned from the U.S. How is it punishment when the law ends someone’s life of guilt for the crime they have committed? The death penalty is very expensive, it cost three times more than non-death penalty cases. Cases where the death penalty has been chosen as the inmates’ sentence cost $1.26 (The Death Penalty Is Expensive). California cost $137 million a year, it would cost $11.5 million without the death penalty. (California Commission for the Fair Administration of Justice, July 2008). Four percent of all the people on death row …show more content…
are innocent. 120 of the roughly 3,000 inmates on death row in America might not be guilty. Since 1973, at least 121 people have been released from death row after evidence of their innocence emerged.
The death penalty is not even a punishment. The only punishment about the death penalty is for the family. The death penalty is ending a guilt filed life on the person that should live the rest of his/her life for what that have done. Some inmates commit a crime knowing that they will get the death penalty and do not expect life in prison. It might be painful at the time but spending life in prison is much longer punishment. The death penalty is against humanity. In the Ten Commandments, the sin of murder is there, and that effects the procurers’ life not the inmates. No one deserves to be killed for any reason, not even if they commit the worst crime there is. Most the people on death row have been proven guilty anyway. It would be easier to let them out of prison than when they are already dead for something they did not do. If someone is for the death penalty they might think differently on the people that do not support it. An eye for an eye is something that people believe that is right. If someone murders someone they should get murdered too. They got what they deserve for the horrible crime
they have committed. It would be safer for the people in the community. The death penalty should not even exist. It is killing a human being and is against humanity and unmoral. It is not a good punishment. Many people become innocent. I am against the death penalty and learned a lot more why I am against it. I do not think any deserves to be killed. I have learned many more reason why I am against it.
Audience relevance: The United States is one Nation and that we believe that if you commit any crime you must be punished. If you commit a crime than you should be punish not murder. The death penalty is not a punishment. Also the Death Penalty is costing many of us money without even knowing.
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.
Gandhi said, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” Losing one life is enough, the government should not take another. The death penalty is the sentence of execution for murder or other capital crimes. In the United States, thirty-one states currently have the death penalty. The only crime that is punishable by death at the state level is murder. In October of 2015, Gallup reported that 61% of people were in favor of the death penalty, 37% of people opposed the death penalty, and 2% had no opinion (Gallup). The death penalty in America should be abolished in all 50 states because it is immoral and economically ineffective.
The death penalty has been around since the beginning of time and historians trace it back to the 1600’s (“Death Penalty Information”). It is considered the ultimate form of justice, an eye for an eye. While it might seem only logical that a murderer does not deserve to live any longer, the severe cost makes it a total waste. However, changing the public’s mind on an issue like this has proven to be difficult. To a family member who has lost someone to a murder, the only true form of justice they can look forward to is the execution. Telling the family the murderer will spend the rest of his life in jail with free health care and meals simply does not have the same ring to it. Nonetheless many other countries across the world have chosen to stop capital punishment, and are now enjoying the extra cash flow. In the year 2015 there are still 32 states that administer the death penalty, and only 18 states that have abolished it (“Death Penalty Information”). Capital punishment is controversial for many reasons, but the cost it puts on the tax payers is something everyone should be concerned with.
penalty punishes them not for what they may or may not do in the future but what
The Death Penalty should be discontinued to the families, human rights, and statistics. The families of the victim and the family of the one, who committed the crime, have no closure at all. The death penalty is killing a human for being convicted of a terrible crime one family may think its right but both suffer by their lost ones. “Although true closure is never really possible for the families, studies have shown that the continual process, along with the returning to court for many years, force families to confront the gruesome details of the crime many times over, making it impossible to get on with their lives.
To choose between life in prison or death should be an easy decision for a court judging a murderer of many, however this is not the case. Although simple at a first glance, there are many outlying factors that can influence one’s decision between life and death. When someone is sentenced to the death penalty a large amount of taxpayer’s money is used to pay for the execution. According to a study at Seattle University, “Washington has carried out five executions since reinstatement, implying a cost of $24 million per execution.” ( www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/costs-deathpenalty, in the Washington section ) This amount of money used to fund an execution can be lessened by giving a convict life in prison. Those sentenced to life in prison with no parole are given the worst living conditions with no chance of seeing the outside world beyond the prison walls due to them being labeled as dead men
Another controversial topic rendering to the death penalty is cost. Is it really more expensive to keep a criminal in prison for life or is it worth while to sentence them to death? Statistics show that the cost of sentencing an individual to life imprisonment and sentencing an individual to the death penalty are generally equivalent to one another. It is the actual act of the execution that raises the costs. To many people the costs seem strange and useless, but to those who lost a loved one to that criminal find it relieving knowing that there is no way he will ever return. In fact, in a survey conducted in 1995, 74% of people support capital punishment even if th...
Why the Death Penalty Should Be Abolished Why should the death penalty be abolished? The death penalty should be abolished for many reasons. Many people believe the saying, 'an eye for an eye'. But when will people realize that just because someone may have killed a loved one that the best thing for that person is to die also? People don't realize that they are putting the blood of another person's life on their hands.
sentenced to life in prison. Many times, new supporting evidence pop up around ten to fifteen
The death penalty is immoral and hypocritical. Yes, killing someone is awful and a person who kills must have a harsh punishment, and pay for the crime committed. However, just because someone killed someone does not give the government the right to kill a human being. The death penalty violates the constitutional right of a human being. It is more of a brutal and cruel punishment against a living human being and can be labeled as one of the worst acts of human nature. A Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary, quotes “In my view, the death penalty is morally, socially, and politically wrong. No national interest can justify human rights violations such as the death penalty or torture”. (Simonovic, 2016)
The first reason why death penalty should be allowed and get more active is life sentence is costly. According to “What is the Average Cost to House Inmates in Prison”, the average cost of housing an inmate in the U.S. was $31,286 in 2012 for per year. According to the “Who, what, where and why”, the United States has roughly 2.4 million people in prisons. Therefore, the money which America pays to keep prisoners who are in prisons is about $75120000000 for per year.
The effectiveness of the punishment is also in question. According to a survey done by the Judicial Council Death Penalty Advisory Committee, “they found that defense costs for death penalty trials averaged $395,762 per case, compared to $98,963 per case when the death penalty was not sought”. In California, they have spent more than 4 billion dollars on the death penalty since it has been put into place in 1978. Additionally the state has 184 million dollars in the cost of security on death row, the trial, and the legal representation. It is believed that by 2030 the cost of the death penalty will reach a staggering 9 billion dollars. (Judicial Council Death Penalty Advisory Committee, 2014) This means that since the death penalty has been in place, the cost of everything involved in the case is significantly higher than life in prison. Life in prison is the more cost efficient way to handle people who are sentenced to
Firstly, the proponents for this argument associate the death penalty as morally right saying, when one life is taken; one life is paid in return. This is morally wrong as any form of killing is wrong and it makes us immoral by killing a killer. Former Us President Jimmy Carter stated that the process of death as
The estimation for prosecuting, convicting, appeals and execution of a death row inmate is about 3.5 million dollars (Death). Although, commuting the sentence to life without a chance of parole maybe cost effective for the state, it doesn’t make it right. The annual cost for death row inmates is around 90 thousand dollars, but for inmates whose sentence is life without chance of parole the cost is only about 48 thousand dollars a year (Barr). The Judicial system needs to consider the emotional health of the family and friends of the victim before the well-being and mental health of the person who committed the