The Bill of Rights as written by James Madison States, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (“National Archives”). For years is it has been debated whether or not capital punishment violated this constitutional law. Many believe the death penalty is beneficial to society with its practice. Throughout history it has been used as a way to punish criminals, ultimately with little to no success. From the beginning, this country’s variations of the death penalty have been in use, testing the tolerance Americans had towards one another and what they determined “punishment” should be. As America progresses, society becomes more complex and diverse, the controversy surrounding the death penalty becomes increasingly contentious. Although it can be argued that capital punishment can potentially aid the reduction of crime, it is an ineffective process that is excessively expensive and has undeniable ethical issues, therefore the death penalty should be eliminated as a form of court mandated punishment.
Capital punishment puts hefty financial strains on the economy due to its detrimentally expensive nature. The Urban Institute Study of Maryland found that the cost of a state prosecutor for cases involving capital punishment was $1.9 million more than in cases where the death penalty wasn’t considered (Urbina). This price differentiation suggests that it is exponentially more expensive to put someone on death row, essentially wasting valuable financial resources. This $1.9 million difference is extremely significant as such a large amount of money could be applied to rehabilitation programs or focused on better education rather than misspent on capital punishment. It is tremendously clear that the death penalty is a complete waste of capital. In fact, within 25 years, New Jersey spent about $253 million on capital punishment processes without any executions (Dieter). New York also experienced a similar monetary loss as they spent about $170 million on capital punishment processes but had no executions in a 9 year period (Dieter). If there are no executions and those charged with a death sentence simply end up in prison, there is absolutely no practical purpose to the death penalty. Its abolishment would save millions of dollars. The money being poured into the trials could be better used in more efficient criminal justice programs, driving the country forward and making it safer and more peaceful in the future. Similarly, “In Kansas, the trial costs for death cases were about 16 times greater than for non-death cases ($508,000 for death case; $32,000 for non-death case)” (Dieter). There is an apparent drastic difference between the two prices, revealing that along with being expensive for individual states the death penalty also puts a financial strain on the country as a whole. The elimination of capital punishment would reduce economic deficit, resulting in a better future for Americans. Furthermore, this appalling process puts significant financial strains on families as, “capital cases are expensive because the trials tend to take longer, they typically require more lawyers and more costly expert witnesses, and they are far more likely to result in multiple appeals”(Urbina). The overall cost of trials in this country is momentous and often impractical for American families who may have to pay for portions of the cost as well as taxes associated with increased executions. Since trials are longer and more aggressive, the cost of proficient lawyers and attorneys is substantially increased. Therefore, capital punishment can leave families devastated with no financial security. Along with putting dire burdens on the countries economy as a whole, mandating capital punishment is harmful to the families involved and for this reason it should be eliminated completely. Although the cost of capital punishment is indisputably high, the daunting issue is that these rates are continuously increasing. As seen in an article by the Sacramento Bee in 1988, “the cost of the death penalty in death penalty cost California was $90 million annually. But the costs have increased sharply since then. the costs now are estimated at $137 million per year.”(Dieter). It is evident that this process if financially draining and if these prices continue to rise it could create additional financial issues for a country already in debt. Hence, removing the death penalty, which is clearly an ineffective process, would immensely benefit the economy as tax rates may decrease or the money could be put towards more efficient government processes, prompting a better future for Americans. This outcome immensely outweighs any possible benefits of capital punishment and it should be completely repealed.
Moreover, the death penalty has many undeniable ethical issues such as the torture associated with botched executions, the mistreatment of those on death row, and the system’s failures to recognize innocents. Many recent executions, especially those by lethal injection, have failed, resulted in extreme pain and suffering for those being executed. Currently, lethal injections have a 7 percent chance of failure or unfortunate application, a much higher rate than all other previous execution methods (Sarat), making it detrimentally dangerous and painful for the person. Even this simple risk of suffering for those being executed is enough to invalidate the need for capital punishment as any fault in the process can sway its moral adequacy. Despite this danger, 85 percent of all executions in the United States are being performed by lethal injection (“Capital Punishment”). Furthermore, the risk of botched executions is increasing as lethal injection has become the most commonly used method of execution. Though the chance of botched executions may seem miniscule, there is no doubt that lethal injections do not reduce pain and agony. In 2017 Kenneth Williams was seen to be “coughing, convulsing, lurching, (and) jerking” after receiving the injection that was meant to peacefully anesthetize him (Sarat). The agony experienced by those receiving botched executions is too great to continue to allow. Gory deaths such as that of William’s only further prove that lethal injection is not as rapid and painless as it is claimed to be. Examples such as this are enough to create significant doubts about the process. In addition, even before being executed, people put on death row have seen lonely, hard years pass by in isolated cells. According to a report in 2017 from University of Texas school of law, In texas, prisoners on death row spend up to 23 hours a day completely alone. They spend these long hours “in an 8 x 12 foot cell with virtually no human contact or exposure to natural light”(Robles). Some of the prisoners found themselves so deprived of the fundamental need of human contact that they volunteered for death by dropping their appeals in order to reach execution sooner (Robles). This is completely unacceptable as denying inmates these necessities is nothing more than torture. Amidst their terrible actions, they are still humans, and these methods are simply inhumane and horrific. Too add to this travatry, numerous individuals on death row have recently been found to be innocent long after incarceration. Since 2016, those found innocent and exonerated from death row have “served a total of 2,475 years in prison for crimes they hadn't committed” (Ballaro and Cushman). The thought of an innocent human having to waste away their life in courtrooms, knowing they hadn’t committed the crime, is horrendous. An example of one of the victims of such inaccurate sentencing was Vicente Benavides. Benavides spent 25 years on death row for a sex offense he hadn’t had anything to do with, only late last year was he released (Innocence Staff). This man’s life was taken by the inefficiencies of death row as they were unable to sufficiently identify that he was innocent years and millions of dollars later. His family and friends aged and lived sadly as he spent his life in courtrooms and jail cells.The treatment of those on death row and the danger within the lethal injection process is simply unethical and inhumane, thus capital punishment should be abolished for its inability to create a sustainable process that can be seen as anything but dangerous and harmful towards those in the system.
Supporters of the death penalty often argue that it is an effective deterrent for crime as it discourages criminality as capital punishment holds harsher consequences for such actions. However, in reality, all credible evidence reveals that it in actuality it does not alleviate the countries crime rate. According to the Death Penalty Information center, the homicide rate in states that still use capital punishment have a 48-101% higher crime rate than states that don’t use capital punishment (Cooper, David). As time progresses and homicide rates continue to grow, it is clear that criminals do not think twice about their crimes, even with the consequences of the death penalty in place. Carrying out capital punishment is only wasting America’s resources and time if nothing is widely changing in our country. According to the Death Penalty Information Center in 2015, the murder rate is the highest in the southern region of the country, which is also the region that carries out the most executions” (Issit and Newton). If the death penalty was truly a deterrent for crimes, then the South would not have such a high crime rate because it’s the area that carries out the most executions. Now the areas still carrying out the death penalty are not only losing millions of dollars per year, but are also being fed false information about its “positive effects”. In a world wide view, many Western countries who have abolished the death penalty tend to experience a decline in murder rates according to report made in December 2018 by Abdorrahman Boroumand Center. There were 11 countries being studied which included South Africa, Serbia, Georgia, Poland and many more. A whopping 10 out of the 11 countries have experienced a decline in murder rates after abolishing the death penalty (Abdorrahman Boroumand Center). Therefore, active capital punishment not only seems to be useless in our country as other areas around the world had decided to abolish it. No matter what the situation in any country, the death penalty does not help decrease homicide rates. Therefore, the potentially beneficial consequences of capital punishment are simply not valid as it is evidently not an effective solution for America’s exponentially high crime rate and thus it should be completely abolished.
The death penalty has many defects as far as the economic expenses and ethical issues it puts on society. There are major expenses that come with the use of the death penalty especially with individual states carrying the burden of all the expenses. Ethical issues surround the death penalty when it comes to how the system itself is carried out such as cases that ended with brutal botched executions. One of the main reasons people support capital punishment is because it could possibly deter for crime because of the higher consequence of death. However, it is shown to not be effective at lowering murder rates, especially where the murder rate is extremely high in certain areas that still use capital punishment. America does not have any use for the death penalty when it has failed to prevent crimes like homicide from happening. By simplifying the indisputable consequences of the penalty, the need for change becomes even more apparent. If things were to change on a broader scope as far as capital punishment goes, countries including America may become more peaceful and economically stable. In a more achievable view, social media platforms, such as Instagram or Twitter, have the ability to reach a very large audience. Spreading awareness about the unjust qualities of capital punishment through social media makes it easier to reach a larger amount people in a shorter amount of time. More people will be persuaded against the death penalty which will naturally lead to more states deciding to abolish the death penalty. With time and patience, capital punishment in America will be abolished once and for all.
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