Michele Hanisee's Arguments Against The Death Penalty

Brooke O’Connell

Ms. Osborne

Advanced Writing

Sept. 26, 2017

Death Penalty Currently there are 3,035 people waiting on death row for a set execution date. Inmates who have been charged with crimes such as rape, murder, and treason. These inmates are waiting to receive the ultimate punishment. The death penalty. The death penalty is a punishment for those who are convicted a capital crime. The result of this, execution. The death penalty has been a punishment in America since 1608. It continues to be a controversial topic with many different views and arguments dividing this country between people for and against this punishment. Each side has several arguments to justify the reasoning of their beliefs. A main argument for those that are

Hanisee believes that the death penalty is a must and made it clear that people against the death penalty shouldn’t fear of innocent people getting executed because twelve citizens must agree on the death verdict not just one person. This is true, each trial includes twelve jurors (citizens who know nothing of the sentenced person or of the crime) to decide if the inmate did such a horrendous crime to deserve the ultimate punishment, death. All twelve jurors must come up with an agreed decision. Hanisee believes that innocent people could not be convicted with twelve jurors watching the trial.

Nebraska state senator, Ernie Chambers disagrees with Hanisee and claims innocent people have been executed even with the jury. He proclaims, “Over 150 people in the last few years have been taken off death row because they were innocent.” 150 people who went to trial with a jury of twelve and was still found guilty for a crime they didn’t commit. He then suggests that there has had to have been several innocent people executed from a crime they were charged with, to later be found innocent. Yet, it was too late. To abolish the death penalty is to save innocent people from

Richard C. Dieter, former director of the death penalty information center says, “All of the studies conclude that the death penalty system is far more expensive than an alternative system in which the maximum sentence is life in prison.” Dieter and many against the death penalty have a problem with the expense of death penalty when life in prison keeps criminals off the streets and is much cheaper. The latest study showed cases were the death penalty cost over one million dollars as cases without cost over $700,000. This doesn’t seem like a ton of a difference until it comes out of taxpayers pockets. It cost taxpayers approximately $90,000 more each year for an inmate who is on death row. Robert Evnen, Co-founder of Nebraskans for the death penalty agrees with the expense of the death penalty but blames the cost on “decades of appeals.” He even comes up with a suggestion to fix the cost by “limiting the number of appeals.” Evnen understands that numbers don’t lie, but relizes that most of the cost comes from multiple trials and appeals. He believes that the death penalty is appropriate in certain times and comes up with a plan to limit the amount of money coming from taxpayers