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Capital Punishment Abolishment

Is the decision to end a criminals life worth everything the price every
citizen has to pay? The death penalty can be dated as far back as the 18th
century BC. It is a well established form of punishment for those deemed to
deserve it. Nowadays the methods for the death penalty is not as harsh as
crucifixion, drowning, impalement, burning alive, or by being beaten to
death, but instead the electric chair, lethal injection, or gas. Though these
options seem more humane, what is the true price of capital punishment?
The death penalty is expensive, is inconsistent and has little evidence, and
has no determinant factor on crime.
Capital punishment is a costly decision, that could be otherwise
avoided by given the criminal life in prison without parole. The death penalty
drains massive amounts of money out of the tax system. Just trying the
accused for the death penalty is more expensive than trying the same case
for life in prison. When the Attorney General is prosecuting for the death
penalty it costs almost eight times more than if he were trying a case that
was not authorized to end in death(Update on the Cost). This is because a
special group of jurors has to be assembled in order to try the defendant
fairly. The jurors have to be questioned more thoroughly due to the severity
of the sentence. Therefore causing the juror qualification process to last
longer in comparison to a non-death penalty case (Why Does the Death
penalty Cost More?). But even after the long interview process the jurors may
not even fully comprehend what they have to look for when making this

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conviction, they may not understand the law or the true weight of this
punishment (Research Areas). Capital punishment is irreversible, therefore
the courts have to do their best to be sure the accused is guilty. This causes
a much longer processing time, which invokes more money to be paid on
behalf of the case. The death penalty is cheap only if it is carried out
quickly. Putting in place the necessary safeguards to prevent wrongful
convictions often makes legal proceedings lengthy and much more costly
than the longest prison sentence, (Haag). The safeguards include two
trials, the first determines the guilt of the defendant, the second determines
the penalty for the crime. Then there is a state supreme court review,
postconviction proceedings, and supreme court appeals, none of which is
free forcing the taxpayers to spend an obscene amount of money to take
away a persons life (Kronenwetter). For example, in New York millions of
dollars was spent on these executions, yet no executions occurred. Between
the years 1995 and 2004, $200 million dollars of the tax payers money was
spent on the death penalty, but no executions occurred (Fagan). Spending
excessive amounts of money on a controversial verdict wastes funds, not
only because there are less expensive punishment, but also due to the
prosecution of innocent suspects.
Many cases that end on death row rely on witness statements instead
of physical evidence. This leads to wrongful convictions and innocent deaths.
117 people have served time for the death penalty since 1973 and were
exonerated or let go due to new evidence. Most of the time the evidence

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used to convict them includes mistaken identifications, inaccurate

laboratory evidence, police misconduct, prosecutorial misconduct, bad
lawyering, false confessions, and false witness testimony (especially the
testimony of informants and fellow inmates), (Henningfeld). For example, in
1980 Daniel Anderson was put on death row for the rape and murder of
Cathy Trunko. After twenty-seven years in prison he was exonerated because
of the new DNA evidence that had been found. An innocent man could have
been killed due to lack of evidence. Many Death Row cases are based on
testimonies and circumstantial evidence, nothing that can undoubtedly prove
someones guilt. If a person is being put to death for their crime, shouldnt
the courts make sure it is their crime? Our legal system has a solemn
obligation to be sure that any death penalty case is in accordance with what
was promised to its citizens in the Constitution (Fact Sheet). In addition, the
courts can be biased on who is convicted. In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court
proclaimed that the death penalty was unconstitutional. It had become
apparent that capital punishment was biased against the lower class,
members of unfavored groups, and any one of a different race (Swarns).
Racism is still prevalent in the nation, this bias could potentially kill an
innocent man or woman. There is no room for error when it comes the death
penalty.
Capital punishment does not have a deterrent effect on heinous
crimes. Statistics from the Bureau of Justice revealed that in the South,
where eighty percent of the executions occur, the murder rate is at its

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highest. On the other hand the Northeast, which accounts for less than one
percent of executions, has the lowest murder rate. When one is committing a
crime such as murder, the assailant simply wants the act to be carried out;
there are no thoughts about what will happen if they get caught.
Furthermore, when the crimes are occurring the assailant doesnt believe
they will be caught. Even if they did believe this they would have to be aware
of the law and know whether or not their crime would be punishable by
death. Thus the criminal would have to work in the law community in order
to be truly deterred by capital punishment (Henningfeld). In addition, it is
found that even in the same jurisdiction two people who committed the
same crime could receive two different punishments, death or life in prison
(Kronenwetter). Though it is a nice idea to think that by killing criminals
others would choose a new path but this is idealistic and statistically proven
false. Deterrence is not the only argument used to support use of the death
penalty, they also argue that it brings retribution to the families of the
victims and would save the lives of many people.
Many say that capital punishment could bring retribution for the
families and save many lives that could have been taken by the accused. As
previously stated the processing time for criminals on death row is long and
expensive. This does not allow for the victims family to move on. Federal
Judge Dana Levitz admitted that the lengthy processing time of these
sentences and drawn out appeals hurts the survivors and forces them to
relive the experience and denies them the option for closure (Henningfeld).

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The families are stuck living in their loss for a lengthy amount of time. If the
convicted was not tried for the death penalty, the trials would be faster and
the families would be given the chance to live their lives free of the ever
present trial. In addition, once the criminal has been sentenced to death and
is executed it may feel as if they did not suffer enough. Many families admit
that the execution was too quick. The survivors pain and the pain of the
family does not simply vanish like the life of the criminal (Opinion-It is time to
Say). In order to truly get retribution the victims want their offender to suffer
for as long as they have to. The families have to suffer for the rest of their
lives because of who this person stole from them; while the criminal is able
to escape his crime through death. They no longer have to live with their
choices, they cannot think about what would have happened if they had
made another decision (Opinion-It is time to Say). Hugo Bedau said I do not
believe that it is rational to assign as one of the legitimate goals of a system
of punishment the exaction of retribution, in some special fashion or further
degree that goes punishments. Thus life imprisonment for murder is every
bit retributive as the death penalty for murder, even if it is less severe. Its
failure to imitate the crime does not make it less retributive, (Bedau). Life
without possibility of parole, after the initial appeals, means a life without
hope. With the death penalty the actions of the criminal will not haunt them
anymore, and the American public is paying for their release of guilt. Many
also say that putting the criminal on death row saves the lives of many. But if
said person is in prison without the possibility of parole, how exactly are they

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a danger to the public? There is no way for them to hurt another innocent
person while in prison.
The Death Penalty is a permanent solution that is over priced,
inconsistent, and has no real effect on the outside world. People support the
death penalty because they believe that the offender deserves it. What is not
put into consideration is how much this decision inadvertently hurts the
family of the victim. No one considers the lack of evidence used to convict or
the bias that may play into the conviction. The death penalty is not black and
white, there are many gray areas that people choose to not see. Justice Harry
Blackmun stated Rather than continue to coddle the Courts delusion that
the desired level of fairness has been achieved and the need for regulation
eviscerated, I feel morally and intellectually obligated simply to concede that
the death penalty experiment has failed, (Callins v. Collins). No matter how
hard the courts try they will never be able to make the death penalty fair. It
will be full of mistakes, unjust, and innocent deaths. The death penalty does
more harm than good, therefore capital punishment should be abolished.

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Works Cited
Books:
Bedau, Hugo Adam. Debating the Death Penalty: Should America Have
Capital Punishment? : The Experts on Both Sides Make Their Best Case. New
York: Oxford UP, 2004. Print.
Haag, Ernest Van Den, and John P. Conrad. "Popular Arguments." The
Death Penalty: 241-51. Print.
Henningfeld, Diane Andrews. The Death Penalty: Opposing Viewpoints.
Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven, 2006. Print.
Kronenwetter, Michael. Capital Punishment, Second Edition a
Reference Handbook. 2nd ed. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2003. Print.
Websites:
"Callins v. Collins,,510 U.S. 1141 (1994)." Callins v. Collins,,510 U.S.
1141 (1994). 22 Feb. 1994. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.
"Fact Sheet: Ensuring Justice and Fairness for All Americans." Fact
Sheet: Ensuring Justice and Fairness for All Americans. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.
Fagan, Jeffrey. "Capital Punishment: Deterrent Effects & Capital Costs."
Columbia Law School. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
"Opinion It Is Time to Say." Maryland Daily Record. 16 Dec. 2004.
Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
"Research Areas." Capital Punishment Decisions Hinge on Jurors Who
May Not Understand Their Task. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.
Swarns, Christina. "The Uneven Scales of Capital Justice." The
American Prospect. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.
"Update on the Cost and Quality of Defense Representation in ..." Web.
2 Nov. 2015.
"Why Does the Death Penalty Cost More?" Web. 2 Nov. 2015.