In 2004, Cameron Todd Willingham was executed for allegedly starting a fire that killed his three daughters. Willingham always defended his innocence and claimed he was asleep when the fire had started. In 2009, almost five years after he was executed, a Texas Forensic Science Commission's expert released that the original claims of arson was proven to be flawed science. Since 1973, 144 people on death row have been exonerated and were proven to be innocent once it was too late. The execution of an innocent person is a wrong that can never be put right. Even the slightest possibility of a state executing somebody that is not guilty is reason enough to abolish the death penalty. Not to mention we have an alternative: life without parole. …show more content…
It seems like common sense that it would be cheaper to execute someone than to house and feed someone for the rest of their lives not knowing when it will end. If the costs of the death penalty were measured at the time of the execution it might be true that life without parole is cheaper. But as every prosecutor, defense attorney, and judge know, the costs of capital cases begin long before the criminal is actually put to death. The Constitution requires a long and complex judicial process for capital cases because it is the only true irreversible form of punishment. Cases without the death penalty cost $740,000, where cases that do involve executing someone can cost up to $1.26 million. The death penalty costs taxpayers $90,000 more per year. This money can be spent on the many other things in our justice system and other public safety