Should the Death Penalty Be Put to Death?
In this article “Breaking from the pack: the death penalty in the United States Death penalty produces injustice”, Katherine Smart argues that the death penalty is inhumane. The United States is ranked number five in how many people are executed due to capital punishment. Katherine notes that people continue to do bad things even when they know that they could go to prison if caught, and that they could possibly be charged the death penalty. Unfortunately, they are continuing to do those criminal acts. So why is the death penalty still around if it does not end the cycle of violence? Another major issue that Katherine mentions is the cost involved with capital punishment. In California, the average cost of capital punishment since 1978 has been nearly four billion which is about three hundred and eight million per execution. This has been a major problem for a long time. Even Martin Luther King, Jr said “Man must evolve for all human conflict a method, which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.” We as a country need to set an example for an individual’s right to live and find equal humane retribution. I do not believe in the phrase “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”; therefore, I do not agree with the death penalty. Capital punishment is costing America a lot of money. In California, the cost of capital punishment is since 1978 has totaled four billion dollars, which averages about 308 million per execution. (Smart 2) Since it is more expensive, we should start thinking about ending the death penalty for good. The reason why it is so expensive is not just because of the injection that kills the criminal, it is the trials that can take more than two years before ending in the death penalty. Those long trials just take time, money, and resources that could be placed elsewhere. Taxpayers are the ones who are currently paying for the death penalty and their money could go elsewhere and to other programs that are actually helpful and productive to society. Keeping criminals in jail on a life sentence is cheaper. Capital punishment is about times more the total amount of keeping one criminal in jail on a life sentence; therefore, we should do something else with all the money we are spending on capital punishment. (Smart 2) Another bad thing about capital punishment is that it has put innocent people to death. The Innocence Project has said that twenty out of three hundred and thirty-three people have been exonerated through DNA since 1989 have served time on death row, making that twenty people were in danger of being executed because of the results of a faulty DNA test. (Smart 1) Wrongful convictions happen more often that you would think, and that is really unfortunate. Even though our judiciary system uses the phrase “innocent until proven guilty”, it does not always work that way. Psychologists have even said that eye witness testimonies in a trial can be the deciding factor of a case, and can be somewhat coerced due to the interviews and how the brain can perceive it. That issue is something that goes beyond just capital punishment, but it is still something that needs to be dealt with. The death penalty does not end the cycle of violence. Criminals obviously know that the death penalty is an option if their crime is bad enough, but they do …show more content…
There is nothing good that is coming out of it. Convicted criminals can be put away for life in prison and justice will be served. There is no need to kill as a way to get justice when the alternative is just as effected. Now would be a good time that the United States as a whole ends this violence; especially because of how much it is costing tax payers, and taking innocent lives. As well as it not ending crime or setting an example for morals. Many people are stuck in their ways and will always believe in capital punishment, but that needs to change. Our country is better than this, and needs to be one of the first to set a standard to end capital punishment. I believe that we, as a nation, could be the ones to end
In this article “Breaking from the pack: the death penalty in the United States Death penalty produces injustice”, Katherine Smart argues that the death penalty is inhumane. The United States is ranked number five in how many people are executed due to capital punishment. Katherine notes that people continue to do bad things even when they know that they could go to prison if caught, and that they could possibly be charged the death penalty. Unfortunately, they are continuing to do those criminal acts. So why is the death penalty still around if it does not end the cycle of violence? Another major issue that Katherine mentions is the cost involved with capital punishment. In California, the average cost of capital punishment since 1978 has been nearly four billion which is about three hundred and eight million per execution. This has been a major problem for a long time. Even Martin Luther King, Jr said “Man must evolve for all human conflict a method, which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.” We as a country need to set an example for an individual’s right to live and find equal humane retribution. I do not believe in the phrase “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”; therefore, I do not agree with the death penalty. Capital punishment is costing America a lot of money. In California, the cost of capital punishment is since 1978 has totaled four billion dollars, which averages about 308 million per execution. (Smart 2) Since it is more expensive, we should start thinking about ending the death penalty for good. The reason why it is so expensive is not just because of the injection that kills the criminal, it is the trials that can take more than two years before ending in the death penalty. Those long trials just take time, money, and resources that could be placed elsewhere. Taxpayers are the ones who are currently paying for the death penalty and their money could go elsewhere and to other programs that are actually helpful and productive to society. Keeping criminals in jail on a life sentence is cheaper. Capital punishment is about times more the total amount of keeping one criminal in jail on a life sentence; therefore, we should do something else with all the money we are spending on capital punishment. (Smart 2) Another bad thing about capital punishment is that it has put innocent people to death. The Innocence Project has said that twenty out of three hundred and thirty-three people have been exonerated through DNA since 1989 have served time on death row, making that twenty people were in danger of being executed because of the results of a faulty DNA test. (Smart 1) Wrongful convictions happen more often that you would think, and that is really unfortunate. Even though our judiciary system uses the phrase “innocent until proven guilty”, it does not always work that way. Psychologists have even said that eye witness testimonies in a trial can be the deciding factor of a case, and can be somewhat coerced due to the interviews and how the brain can perceive it. That issue is something that goes beyond just capital punishment, but it is still something that needs to be dealt with. The death penalty does not end the cycle of violence. Criminals obviously know that the death penalty is an option if their crime is bad enough, but they do …show more content…
There is nothing good that is coming out of it. Convicted criminals can be put away for life in prison and justice will be served. There is no need to kill as a way to get justice when the alternative is just as effected. Now would be a good time that the United States as a whole ends this violence; especially because of how much it is costing tax payers, and taking innocent lives. As well as it not ending crime or setting an example for morals. Many people are stuck in their ways and will always believe in capital punishment, but that needs to change. Our country is better than this, and needs to be one of the first to set a standard to end capital punishment. I believe that we, as a nation, could be the ones to end