Pros And Cons Of The Death Penalty

The death penalty, also known as capital punishment, refers to punishment by death through methods such as beheading, electrocution, hanging, shooting squad, or lethal injection. This rare sentencing, traces back to early American colonial ages, is reserved to perpetrators of heinous crimes. Throughout recent years, the topic has raised a profusion of human-rights issues due to the harsh breaching of two essential human rights: the right to life and the right to freedom of torture. Many pro-death penalty supporters will argue that the cost of keeping convicts on death row is too expensive, however recent studies show carrying out a state execution costs far more money than keeping convicts for life imprisonment sentences. Despite controversies,

The death penalty, once applied, is irreversible. But how can an innocent person be sentenced to execution? Human failure is natural and inevitable. Newly discovered DNA evidence after an execution can prove one’s innocence, DNA mix ups during trials, the pressure for a speedy trial, or simply abuses of power can always occur. When an innocent person is executed, there is no turning back. The loss of that innocent person’s life will also affect family and friends. According to a report conducted by the Justice Department in 1996, ‘’In 8,048 rape and rape-and-murder cases referred to the FBI crime lab from 1988 to mid-1995, a staggering 2,012 of the primary suspects were exonerated owing to DNA evidence alone.’’ (Williams), nearly 25% of the accused offenders were found innocent after further DNA investigation and that statistics accounts for just rape and murder cases alone. A risk of convicting innocent people exists in any justice system. There have been and always will be cases of executions of innocent

A common misconception is that the cost for taxpayers sustaining inmates serving sentences is far greater than executing the prisoners. However, this belief is not true. Both Samuel Shaw, a Florida Supreme Court Case Leader, and John DeRosier, a District Attorney, will clear up this misconception to any pro-death penalty supporter. ‘’John DeRosier estimated that a capital case in Louisiana is at least three times more costly than a non-death case.’’ (Hyden) ‘’Some people may be surprised to learn that the death penalty is far more expensive to implement than life in prison without the possibility of parole.’’ (Shaw) The debunking of this misconception is supported through studies done on financial reports affected by death penalty cases. ‘’Studies in North Carolina, Maryland, California, and many others show that capital punishment is many times more expensive than life without parole, and there's a long history of the death penalty pushing municipal budgets to the brink of bankruptcy and even leading to tax increases.’’ (Hyden) Taxpayers are essentially paying more for death penalty