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Mirna Hernandes

Professor Moore

English 1301

10 October 2018

The Death Penalty

The death penalty in the United States can be traced back to the 1600s. It is claimed that

the first recorded death sentence and execution was carried out in the British colony of

Jamestown, Virginia. During the nineteenth century, the movement of abolishing the death

penalty was seen as a result of the “Jacksonian era”, which claimed to use more humane ways to

punish people (Part 1: History of the Death Penalty). Pennsylvania was the first state to openly

move executions into the public eye whereas Michigan was the first to abolish the death penalty.

After that many states joined both sides, a few years some states leaned more towards

abolishment, and other years towards acceptance. A 2014 poll by the Washington Post and ABC

News found that most Americans (52%) prefer life without parole as punishment for murder,

with just 42% preferring the death penalty (50 Facts About the Death Penalty). Capital

punishment, also known as the death penalty, is a legal penalty given in the state of Texas, next

to life in prison, it is the highest level of punishment in the United States. The question of

whether the death penalty should be abolished has become a prominent argument because it

impacts all areas of humanity, as a community and as a nation.

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Morality will forever be a common point, if not the most important point to many, for the

death penalty. To some, it is wrong, regardless of how a person chooses to look at it. The people

against the death penalty argue that every person deserves a second chance, no matter the

circumstances. An article written by an American legal scholar named Michael J. Perry,

expresses that executing people is a violation of a person’s basic human rights. He goes on by

saying, “There are several reasons to oppose capital punishment, only one of which is that every

human being has inherent dignity” (Perry 11). Protestors often ask why are people in legal power

killing those who have committed murder? To others, it means there is one less criminal on the

loose, it means more justice for the victims of the criminal’s acts. Some will say that execution is

the best option for criminals, and yet others will state that it is ethically wrong. “[W]e reserve the

death penalty in the United States for the most heinous murders and the most brutal and

conscienceless murderers...the capital punishment system is a filter that selects the worst of the

worst” (Why the Death Penalty is Still Necessary). It is often in human nature to argue the

morality of controversial issues such as this.

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Another issue between both sides is the cost. Some argue that it is cheaper to just execute

the criminal rather than keep them in prison for life. The Oklahoma Death Penalty Review

Commission found that seeking the death penalty in Oklahoma "incurs significantly more time,

effort, and costs on average, as compared to when the death penalty is not sought in first degree

murder cases" (Costs of Death Penalty). Studies have shown that “giving someone capital

punishment and going through with is costs about 1.26 million dollars, whereas having someone

serve a life sentence without parole costs about $740,000” (Cost of Death Penalty). These facts

show us that sentencing someone to death costs more than sending someone to prison for the rest

of their lives. Due to the cost of lawyers and the time it takes to process and come to a verdict,

there is more expense to the cost and to the time. On the opposing side people argue that some

citizens do not care for the cost, if justice is being made, the tax money used to sentence

someone to death is good enough. Others say that all those statistics may be wrong. Depending

on the state, the cost of sentencing someone to death and sentencing someone to life in prison

may vary. It is not as drastic as some make it out to be. (Considering The Death Penalty Penalty)

The big question still hangs, does the death penalty help lower crime within our country.

A study given by the Death Penalty Information Center shows that states without the death

penalty have lower crime rates. “Eighty-eight percent of the country’s top criminologists do not

believe the death penalty acts as a deterrent to homicide, according to a new study published in

the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology and authored by Professor Michael Radelet, Chair

of the Department of Sociology at the University of Colorado-Boulder, and Traci Lacock, also at

Boulder “(Facts about Deterrence). The opposite view on this says the crime is lowered due to

people being afraid of death, that threatening criminals to death will give them a realistic view on

their actions and make them feel less impulsive in committing these crimes. The thought of death
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may alter a criminal's view on their actions. Although there is little evidence showing whether

the possibility of death when committing a crime lowers crime, this will remain to be a topic of

interest.

The death penalty, or capital punishment, still stands in 30 out of the 50 states in this

country. With 52% of Americans preferring life without parole as a punishment for murder and

41% preferring the death penalty (50 Facts About the Death Penalty). The moral viewpoints have

many contrasting ideas. The expense of giving someone the death penalty is a usual

argumentative point in debate as the same with the question of the country’s crime rates. This

topic is a very delicate one that shows both sides to have very important views.

Works Cited

 “50 Facts About the Death Penalty.” Millions Misspent: What Politicians Don't Say

About the High Costs of the Death Penalty | Death Penalty Information Center,

deathpenaltyinfo.org/50-Facts.

 Considering The Death Penalty: Your Tax Dollars At Work. [online] Forbes. Available

at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2014/05/01/considering-the-death-

penalty-your-tax-dollars-at-work/#4c0d8e73664b [Accessed 31 Oct. 2018].

 “Costs of the Death Penalty.” Costs of the Death Penalty | Death Penalty Information

Center, deathpenaltyinfo.org/costs-death-penalty.

 “Deterrence: States Without the Death Penalty Have Had Consistently Lower Murder

Rates.” Deterrence: States Without the Death Penalty Have Had Consistently Lower
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Murder Rates | Death Penalty Information Center, deathpenaltyinfo.org/deterrence-

states-without-death-penalty-have-had-consistently-lower-murder-rates.

 “Facts about Deterrence and the Death Penalty.” Facts about Deterrence and the Death

Penalty | Death Penalty Information Center, deathpenaltyinfo.org/facts-about-deterrence-

and-death-penalty.

 "Capital Punishment and the Morality of Human Rights," Journal of Catholic Legal

Studies: Vol. 44: No. 1 , Article 4. Michael J. Perry (2016)

Available at: https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/jcls/vol44/iss1/4

 “Part I: History of the Death Penalty.” Part I: History of the Death Penalty | Death

Penalty Information Center, deathpenaltyinfo.org/part-i-history-death-penalty

 The Death Penalty in the USA – A Short History - Samfunnsfaglig engelsk - NDLA.

[online] Available at: https://ndla.no/en/node/103196?fag=71082 [Accessed 8 Oct. 2018].

 Why the Death Penalty is Still Necessary – Catholic World Report.

Catholicworldreport.com. (2018). [online] Available at:

https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2017/07/18/why-the-death-penalty-is-still-

necessary/ [Accessed 31 Oct. 2018].