ipl-logo

Capital Punishment Essay: Death Penalty In The United States

872 Words4 Pages

Patsie Egleston
Mrs. Furr
29 November, 2016
ENG-113
Capital Punishment Much like abortion or the idea of gun control, capital punishment has been one of the most controversial and talked about topics of the twenty-first century. Many do not agree with the idea of the death penalty, or execution at all for that matter. However, if capital punishment were to be allowed in all fifty states the crime rate would decrease; there would be less government spending due to life in prison without parole; it would provide just punishment for crimes committed against the rights of life; freedom and safety of victims; and others would feel safer with those criminals locked up, waiting to get what they deserve. It would most definitely benefit us in a …show more content…

The government would save a lot of money if they were to enforce the death penalty as opposed to sentencing criminals and murderers to a lifetime behind bars. Maintaining each death row prisoner costs taxpayers $90,000 more per year than a prisoner in the general population. Although the cost of a death penalty case can be up to two million dollars, the cost of capital punishment is less compared to paying taxes on the death row inmates, feeding them, and providing health care for them their entire lives in prison until they die (List). The money that will be used to house and take care of the inmates could go towards other government or state expenses, helping with debt, state funding, and boosting the economy. Capital punishment is an opportunity for the state and national government to decrease …show more content…

Many believe in the saying “an eye for an eye”, or in this case “ a death for a death”. Though it may fail to correspond with some people’s spiritual or religious beliefs, capital punishment is still “constitutional and does not violate the Eighth Amendment which prohibits the federal government from imposing excessive bail fines, and cruel and unusual punishments, including torture” (List). Compared to the ways of execution in the Fifth Century ( crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement) (Part) today’s modern methods are much less gruesome and more humane. Most executions used to be public (i.e. lynching), therefore today’s form of execution is far less public than what it used to be as well. Today executions occur by lethal injection (Harden), and provide a clean death for the criminals receiving the

Show More
Related
1021 Words | 5 Pages

In recent years, anti-death penalty propagandists have succeeded in stoking the fear that capital punishment is being carelessly meted out. Ironically, Of the 875 prisoners executed in the United States in modern times, not one has been retroactively proved innocent. The benefits of a legal system in which judges and juries have the option of sentencing the cruelest or coldest murderers to death far outweigh the potential risk of executing an innocent person. First and foremost, the death penalty makes it possible for justice to be done to those who commit the worst of all crimes. The execution of a murderer sends a powerful moral message: that the innocent life he took was so precious, and the crime he committed so horrific, that he forfeits

Read More
81 Words | 1 Pages

Some see the death penalty as the only means to extract justice for victims. Others see it as a morally reprehensible act where a second wrong is committed in order to make something right. With recent issues surrounding the death penalty in which execution hasn 't gone as planned sparking a nationwide debate, this is my outlook on why I 'm for the death penalty not only being abolished in the state of Texas but in addition to the entirety of the US..

Read More
1721 Words | 7 Pages

Texas Death Penalty Controversy Introduction Texas has a long history of using the death penalty as a form of punishment for serious criminal offenses. The state has carried out the most executions of any state in the United States since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, with a total of 570 executions as of September 2021. This paper will examine the history of the death penalty in Texas, the process of imposing and carrying out a death sentence, and the controversies surrounding the use of the death penalty in the state's criminal justice system. History of the Death Penalty in Texas Texas has a long history of using the death penalty as a form of punishment. The state carried out its first execution in 1819 when George Brown

Read More
585 Words | 3 Pages

The death penalty is an issue with heavy moral and legal ramifications, and is often debated by everyone from the professionals to the scholar. Globally, the death penalty carries certain connotations, and within the United States, many states have chased to outlaw it. What follows is a brief examination of each perspective on this divisive issue. The organization of Oregonians for Alternatives to Oppose the Death Penalty is highly credible due to the sources of their facts, all the way straight from the courthouse to the bible, there isn’t one opinionated statistic in this article.

Read More
950 Words | 4 Pages

The Attorney General alone donates 15% of his budget, to death penalty cases. Maintaining each death row prisoner costs taxpayers $90,000 per year. It cost more than $31,000 to keep someone in prison for a year. The most recent report is that only fifteen states have gotten rid of it all together. These states being Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Read More
1004 Words | 5 Pages

From the beginning of the foundation of America, men have tried to figure out the correct way to deal with law-opposing criminals. From crucifixion and slavery, to death by firing squad and life sentences, the world has utilized different forms of discipline. The death penalty has formed into the most questionable form of punishment, drawing the most attention from the public eye. This sanction is used to punish criminals for committing the most heinous crimes and offenses. The crimes that obtain the death penalty mostly consist of murder which include murder during a kidnapping, murder for hire, drug-related drive by shooting, and genocide.

Read More
997 Words | 4 Pages

Ever since the outset of the American Constitution, capital punishment has existed as a crime sentence in the United States. However, in recent decades, this topic has become highly controversial, as many states have dictated against the death penalty. Although states with this position on capital punishment are increasing, some states, such as Texas, have continued to edict this practice in their provinces. In the State of Texas, the sentence to death upon a person should not be permitted due to the fact it can wrongly convict a person, its court trial is highly expensive, and it brings forth an unjust treatment.

Read More
1276 Words | 6 Pages

“JFA [Justice for All] estimates that life in prison cases will cost $1.2 million-$3.6 million more than equivalent death penalty cases.” (Pros and Cons - Death penalty) Even though the cite states that death penalty cases are generally more expensive in the beginning than life in prison cases, people argue that given time, with life in prison, the cost of keeping someone alive in prison for the rest up their life will add up and would soon cost more money than if the prisoner was sentenced to death. Since part of what pays to keep prisoners alive in jail is taxpayer money, many people use this to justify the death penalty, because people don’t want their hard earned cash being used to keep someone who has killed multiple people in prison for life when it would cost less in a long run to quickly execute the inmate. People also use the simple phrase of, “an eye for an eye” to justify the legality of the death penalty, where if a person commits a murder then he should be executed for depriving a family of a loved one.

Read More
1176 Words | 5 Pages

The Controversy Over the Death Penalty: Opposing Opinions on Capital Punishment in the United States “It is just like going to sleep.” This is the way the lethal injection is being described to prisoners on death row. Unfortunately, it will be a while before the injection itself can be put to rest. The death penalty is a very controversial subject in the United States, and is argued whether it is a cruel and inhumane punishment, or just what the offender deserves. What is right?

Read More
293 Words | 2 Pages

The death penalty has existed in the United States since its inception. Currently, the United States is the only English-speaking western nation to apply capital punishment with thirty-four out of fifty states utilizing this method of punishment to address crime. In fact, until the 20th century, death sentences were carried out in public, typically by hanging, to discourage others in the community from committing similar acts. Today, however, death sentences occur by electrocution, lethal injection, or exposure to poisonous gases and take place in private, most commonly in a correctional facility under the watchful eye of prison officials. The concept of the death penalty is to deter negative or undesirable behavior.

Read More
1950 Words | 8 Pages

The death penalty is and has been one of the most controversial topics debated in the United States since its birth in the seventeenth century. Dating back to colonial times, the death penalty was influenced by European settlers who brought capital punishment with them to the new world. Similar to today’s laws regarding the death penalty, the laws for capital punishment varied from colony to colony (“Introduction to the Death Penalty”). Slowly, most states in the country have eliminated this cruel practice, however, in some states the death penalty persists. Florida is one of thirty-one states where the death penalty still exists (“States with and without the Death Penalty”).

Read More
2017 Words | 9 Pages

Around the United States, there are substantial variations in the way people view methods of capital punishment. Some conclude it essentially violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, while others see it as the only form of justice. But even so, this does not remove the fact that there are thirty-two U.S states that support and act upon capital punishment. In fact, there is a total of five different methods of execution authorized by most states that currently have death penalty statutes. During the course of this paper, I will be discussing each method which includes: Lethal Injection, electrocution, lethal gas, firing squad, and hanging.

Read More
1902 Words | 8 Pages

(Kendall, 2015) There are clearly some costs to using the death penalty as an option today. It is costly to a system that is not as funded in jail/prison space. The money that is allocated to the drugs could easily be allocated to prison reform, new prisons, and keeping life-sentenced

Read More
998 Words | 4 Pages

Brendan Taylor Taylor-1 Professor Reynolds Ethics 03 March 21, 2013 The Death Penalty: Defining Justice and Its Application The death penalty is an ongoing ethical debate that transcends any specific time period. It permeates multiple aspects of our culture, from movies to modern day media. It has been in practice for hundreds of thousands of years, and even though it is used currently as an ends to the means of societal injustices, it is important to look at its moral permissibility under a finer magnification by looking at it in pieces.

Read More
713 Words | 3 Pages

Research has indicated some advantages to abolishing the death penalty. Long term imprisonment is far more expensive than the death penalty in the end. A study of the death penalty in California in 2011 showed that the cost of housing a death- row inmate is $100,000 more per year than the cost of housing someone sentenced to life without parole. The process is dragged out too long, costing way too much time and money. As Chammah stated, “The American death penalty system is so slow, inconsistent and inefficient that it costs far more than life without parole.”

Read More

More about Capital Punishment Essay: Death Penalty In The United States

Related Topics

Open Document