For the last half-century one of the most controversial topics in America is capital punishment and its practice. Both sides of the argument have valid justifications for their point of views, but the issue is still at hand. Should criminals be put to death or should there be another form of harsh punishment? Ethical values play a huge role in arguing one way or another. The topic of death penalties is nothing but an open forum for citizens and politicians to debate on their opinions and values and not so much on facts.
What is the Death Penalty?
The death penalty comes in a few different forms. According to the Death Penalty Information Center (2016), the methods of execution used in America since 1976 are lethal injection, electrocution,
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According to retired California judge Donald McCartin, “It’s 10 times more expensive to kill [criminals] than to keep them alive” (Neubauer & Fradella, 2014, p. 395). This may be an exaggerated opinion of one person, but it is taken into heavy consideration by those who oppose the death penalty because of McCartin’s reputation and political stance. Because it is an opinion of one person, it is hard to make a legitimate argument for or against the death penalty. One fact that is to be taken into consideration when discussing the cost concerns of capital punishment is who is paying for the procedures. In the state of South Carolina, for instance, the local government is responsible for footing the bill (Neubauer & Fradella, 2014). It is reported that this does not affect the court’s decision to sentence criminals to death or not, but it still raises concerns for the tax payers in that area (Neubauer & Fradella, 2014). With that being said, research does show that the wealthier the county, the higher death penalty rates the county has (Neubauer & Fradella, …show more content…
For example, why does it cost nearly four times as much on average to seek the death penalty in courts compared to the same type of crime and not seeking the death penalty? Studies have shown that the average cost for the U.S. Attorney General to not seek the death penalty for a person charged with a capital offense is $55,772 (Clear, Cole, & Reisig, 2013). In comparison, for that same person to be sentenced to death would cost $218,112 (Clear, Cole, & Reisig, 2013). Due to the argument for or against the death penalty is mainly an opinion based topic, here is mine: that is ridiculous. There is no reason why it should cost that much more for the same court proceedings seeking different