The Advantages Of Life In Prisons

The method of using lethal injection to carry out the death penalty was first used on December 7, 1982 in Texas (“History”). Over the years, however, people began questioning whether or not the death penalty should be enforced. The question was whether the death penalty or life in prison is more beneficial, considering all of the factors that are involved. Both punishments have their advantages and disadvantages; cost being the biggest disadvantage in both sentences. The cost of a death penalty case is extremely high, including the trial, the drugs necessary for the injection, etc. On the other hand, the cost of the sentence of life imprisonment is also very high. It is very expensive to pay for someone’s necessities to live for the rest of

When given the sentence of life imprisonment, prisoners always have the chance to rehabilitate and try to better themselves. Prisons usually offer programs/help for prisoners to try and do so. This sentence is the perfect combination between just and harsh. However, spending your life in prison isn’t always the best option. Some prisoners may rather receive the death penalty and take the “quicker route” rather than spend the rest of their lives miserably with no chance of parole. A third advantage of life in prison is that punishments are scaled in an effective manner. This basically means that the more heinous the crime, the more severe the punishment will be. For example, if a person commits petty theft, they know that they are going to receive a punishment that actually fits their crime. “On the other hand, a person who commits a murder or a rape knows that they are risking their freedom, which can serve as a powerful deterrent” (Apecsecadmin). In the same way, the death penalty can also serve as an extremely powerful deterrent. If other criminals see that this is happening, and they are heading in the direction of committing the same crimes, it might make them rethink what they are doing if they know there is a potential risk of receiving the death penalty. Canada abolished the death penalty 1976. Twenty seven years after the abolishment, Canada saw a 44 per cent drop in murders across the country (“5

Cost would be a disadvantage for both of these. Depending on how long the prisoner lives in prison, or depending on how long the prisoner has to wait to be executed, a lot of money needs to be spent to keep each individual prisoner alive and healthy. Death by lethal injection is supposed to be a quick and painless process. However, it is not 100% guaranteed to work perfectly. For example, during the 2006 execution of Angel Nieves Diaz, two doses of the drug were needed and the death took 34 minutes (“5 Reasons to…”). A third disadvantage to the death penalty is the highly possible risk of wrongful execution/punishment. Sometimes people may be charged with or receive a punishment because of something they are innocent for. This can happen because of several factors. “Between 2007 and 2017 the leading contributing causes of wrongful conviction in the death row exonerations were official misconduct (82.4%), perjury or false accusations (76.5%), false or misleading forensic evidence (32.4%), inadequate legal defense (23.5%), false or fabricated confession (17.6%), and mistaken eyewitness identification (11.8%)” (“Causes of Wrongful…”). A disadvantage to life in prison is that more prisons need to be built. The more prisoners that commit crimes harsh enough to be sentenced to life in prison, the more room they will need for the prisoners. A third disadvantage of life in