Capital Punishment:The Deadly Truth
The death penalty is the punishment of execution, administered to someone legally convicted of a capital crime. People in the United States are constantly debating over capital punishment and if it is beneficial in our society. One side of the debate states that some people can redeem themselves and that it is inhumane. Others claim that the inmates are guilty and should suffer the consequences for their actions. Who hasn’t heard an eye for an eye? However, that doesn’t explain the disadvantages to the death penalty,such as, its overwhelming cost, its biased nature, and the time consumed.
MONEY
In many cases, taxpayers are against the idea of the death penalty. This is because it is very expensive to keep prisoners on death row rather than lifetime imprisonment. A good example showing that citizens are paying more every year to keep inmates on death row is California. In this specific state, the citizens are paying up to 90,000 dollars per death row prisoner than on prisoners in regular confinement. (Cox) Another reason why taxpayers are against the death penalty is because when the inmates go to court, it is also very expensive. The United States court system goes through immense lengths before and after the death penalty. To
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The government can show unfairness to certain demographics. These categories can be race, gender, and age. It has been shown that inmates that are men make up 99 percent of the death row. (Meehan) People who tend to be placed on death row are poorly educated, their income level is low, and must settle for a court appointed public attorney. This is evidence that the lawyers could have less experience. Race is also a drawback to capital punishment. There are approximately 60 percent of inmates on death row, that are non-white. (McKeon) There are already debates over racism, and this causes even more problems that will never