On the Death Penalty in the United States

McQuillin Murphy
April 14, 2014

The Pennsylvania State University

English 138T
Dr. Mary Miles

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Some issues arise from moments in time. Others are consistently present debates in
societies. In the United States, the legitimacy of capital punishment, or the death penalty, is not a
new issue, but it is a present one. News regarding executions can fill the airwaves for weeks, as
in the case of Troy Davis, a prisoner executed in Georgia in 2009. Daviss execution became
especially controversial when questions over the legitimacy of witness testimony in the case
arose (Pappas). Daviss case is not the only case in the past decade to take the nation by storm.
The executions of Teresa Lewis in 2010, Humberto Leal in 2011, and Duane Buck in 2011 all
caused controversy for one reason or another. This is particularly relevant when politicians like
former Texas Governor Rick Perry seek higher office, as he did the Presidency of the United
States. Governor Perrys administration in Texas was noted for the number of executions it
allowed, some controversial, like Cameron Todd in 2004 (Pappas). The issue is present in
American society, so for a number of reasons, it must be made clear that the death penalty is an
ineffective, unjust, and immoral punishment; it should not be considered by the citizens of the
United States as a legitimate form of dispensing justice.
The debate is so present and alive in the United States because both sides are equipped
with strong legal and moral arguments. The first argument to consider is deterrence. Proponents
of the death penalty proclaim that death is the thing people fear the most and so the threat of such
will prevent crimes. However, statistical studies have been inconclusive on that subject and are
highly disputed (Arguments). Statistics can point the other direction, too. One survey asked the
current and past presidents of a number of academic criminological societies if executions
lowered homicide rates, to which 88% responded that they did not (Facts about the Death
Penalty). The Southern United States, which has the highest murder rate in the country, is home
to 80% of executions. Conversely, the Northeast has the lowest murder rate and only 1% of

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executions (Facts about the Death Penalty). Clearly, the murder rate is not lowered by the
number of executions in an area.
One of the simplest arguments in favor of the death penalty is that killing a murderer, or
another perpetrator of a capital crime, simply prevents them from ever committing such a crime
again (Arguments). While that is true, so does a sentence to life in prison. Only 10 of
approximately 100,500 prisoners in Florida during the 2011-2012 fiscal year successfully
escaped from secured facilities (Escapes; Inmate Population). Prisons in the United States
are extremely and increasingly difficult to escape from, so the risk of prisoners serving life
sentences breaking free and recommitting their crimes is minimal.
The practicality of the death penalty versus life imprisonment goes further still. The death
penalty process has been shown to be much more costly to the taxpayer than alternatives. The
cost for trials seeking the death penalty can be four times that of other trials. In California, the
death penalty has cost an estimated $4,000,000,000 since 1978. In Florida, the cost for death
penalty cases was $51,000,000 more per year than if life imprisonment had been sought instead.
That comes out to about $24,000,000 per execution (Facts about the Death Penalty).
Opponents might point out these figures as a support of the fairness of the system; death penalty
cases are long, exhaustive, rare, procedurally deterring, and only sought for truly heinous crimes.
Those who are given this conviction, however, would dispute the notion that the length
and scope of the American judicial process produces a fair and reasonable result on death penalty
cases. Specifically, the process has been shown to be racially biased. While 50% of murder
victims are White, 76% of victims in cases in which the death penalty is sought are White. In
interracial murders, a White defendant with a Black victim is 92.6% less likely to be executed
than a Black defendant with a White victim (Facts about the Death Penalty). Doubt that the

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process produces fair results should be enough to shut down a system that takes peoples lives.
Additionally, there is no way the death penalty can deter if it is applied unequally; it is
impossible to know for sure what crimes will warrant the death penalty for what people under
which conditions.
Supporters of the death penalty say that for society to be just, the punishment must be
equal to the crime. This harkens back to Hammurabis code, which proposes an eye for an eye.
Life is a prison is simply too pleasant of a punishment for people who commit the crimes that
warrant capital punishment, such as rape and murder (Arguments). However, the United States
judicial system does not enforce an equal punishment for any other crimes. The punishment
for rape is not to be raped; the punishment for torture is not to be tortured in kind (Arguments).
Pro-capital punishment advocates argue that this punishment will bring the families of the
victims closure (Arguments). However, this is not always the case, by any means. Marietta
Jaeger-Lane, the mother of a kidnap and murder victim, says, Loved ones, wrenched from our
lives by violent crime, deserve more beautiful, noble and honorable memorials than premeditated, state-sanctioned killings. The death penalty only creates more victims and more
grieving families. By becoming that which we deplore people who kill people we insult
the memory of all victims. (Victims and the Death Penalty).
The arguments of practicality and fairness must be accompanied by an argument of
morality. In 2005, the Supreme Court ruled the execution of juveniles illegal, taking the United
States off a list of countries that, since 1990, only also includes China, the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen (Facts about the Death
Penalty). Clearly, the immorality of killing kids could no longer be denied, perhaps apparent by
the company of human rights offenders kept by the United States until 2005. The risk of killing

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innocents must also be taken into account. It is better to let a guilty man go free than imprison an
innocent one. Since 1973, over 140 people have been released from death row with evidence of
their innocence. (Facts about the Death Penalty). This should prove the risk is too great to be
proceeding with the executions; there is a risk that those executed are innocent.
While it is not the prerogative of the state to follow religious arguments, the Bible has
words for the people of the United States. While the Old Testament declares the death penalty
the punishment the penalty for many crimes and sins revealing also the age of the debate one
of the Ten Commandments reads, Thou shalt not kill. This contradiction is furthered by Jesus
message of love and forgiveness and opposition to equal revenge. In Romans 12:20, it reads,
Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. (What Does the Bible Say?). This suggests
that humans are not to take each others lives, if it is possible not to.
When there is an alternative, as there is in the United States legal system, killing is
inexcusable. The death penalty is simply institutionalized, pre-meditated murder, which is
considered one of the worst crimes a person can commit. For this very reason we consider the
worst punishments imaginable for its violators. The citizens of the United States must demand of
their nation that it stop committing such a crime. The institution should serve as a safeguard
against committing the very crimes it prosecutes by outlawing the death penalty.

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Works Cited
Arguments for and Against the Death Penalty. Issue brief. Michigan State University and Death
Penalty Information Center, 2000. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
<http://deathpenaltycurriculum.org/student/c/about/arguments/arguments.PDF>.
"Escapes." Florida Department of Corrections. Florida Department of Corrections, 2012. Web.
13 Apr. 2014. <http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/annual/1112/stats/im_escapes.html>.
"Executions of Juveniles since 1990." Amnesty.org. Amnesty International, 2014. Web. 14 Apr.
2014. <http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/executions-of-child-offenders-since1990>.
"Facts About the Death Penalty." www.deathpenaltyinfo.org. The Death Penalty Information
Center, 10 Apr. 2014. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/FactSheet.pdf>.
"Inmate Population." Florida Department of Corrections. Florida Department of Corrections,
2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/annual/1112/stats/im_pop.html>.
Pappas, Stephanie. "9 Controversial Death Penalty Cases in the U.S." MNN.com. Mother Nature
Network, 21 Sept. 2011. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. <http://www.mnn.com/earthmatters/politics/stories/9-controversial-death-penalty-cases-in-the-us>.
"Victims and the Death Penalty." www.deathpenaltyinfo.org. The Death Penalty Information
Center, 2014. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. <http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/victims-and-deathpenalty>.

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"What Does the Bible Say About Capital Punishment and the Death
Penalty?"ChristianBibleReference.org. Ed. Cliff Leitch, M.Sc. Christian Bible Reference
Site, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.christianbiblereference.org/faq_CapitalPunishment.htm>.