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How To Abolish Death Penalty In California

663 Words3 Pages

Joey Arbuckle
Mr. Lealos
English II, 2
17 September 2015
Capital Punishment
Only 13 of 800 total prisoners sentenced to the death penalty in California have been . The amount of money spent keeping these prisoners on death row for all these years is over $4 billion (End the death penalty in California 2012). From having the death penalty, California has been wasting tax-payer’s money on repeal and living costs. California should abolish the death penalty because the prisoners cost too much and it does not deter criminals.
The death penalty costs too much in California due to the high price of appeals for prisoners and executions. Prisoners on death row “A 2011 study led by Arthur L. Alarcn... found that the state system has cost $4 billion …show more content…

Very few criminals really get deterred by the death penalty. A Bristol prison chaplain says that, “...out of 167 condemned criminals whom he had interviewed, only three had not witnessed an execution” (Weil 2013). The criminals sentenced to death row were not deterred by the death penalty, even though almost all of them have witnessed a hanging. Capital punishment is not an effective way to deter criminals, since the prospect of spending one’s entire life behind bars sounds even worse. The criminals who think they can get away with their crimes, also think that they will not be executed if convicted. The way to stop people from committing horrific acts is to not say how bad the punishment will be, but to have a more effective police force laying down the …show more content…

Using the taxpayer’s money to keep a prisoner in a special system is not good for anyone. The death penalty is not good at deterring criminals, unlike having life in prison. California should change their death penalty system to cut the billions of dollars going to keep prisoners on death row. Works Cited
“End the death penalty in California.” New York Times 5 Nov. 2012: A28(L). Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. .
Slattery, Gram. “Death penalty: ruling in California finds long delays ‘cruel and unusual.’” Christian Science Monitor 17 July 2014. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 22 Sept. 2015. .
Weil, Jack. “The Death Penalty Does Not Deter Crime.” The Death Penalty. Ed. Jenny Cromie and Lynn M. Zott. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from “The Death Penalty Isn’t the Answer to Crime Woes.” Star 4 Nov. 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 22 Sept. 2015.

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