Albanie Stoddard

Criminal Justice 1010

Critical Thinking Paper

2/24/2015
I chose to research both sides of a very big controversial issue, the death penalty, also
known as capital punishment. The death penalty is defined as, the punishment of execution,
administered to someone legally convicted of a capital crime. There are many aspects of this
issue that people have a hard time with and that are considered controversial such as; high costs
of such procedure, guilt by association for the inmates, and the race of the inmate and or their
victim. There are plenty more but these are the three I thought would focus on in explaining the
pros and cons of this chosen topic as well as my opinion.
I wanted to find information on Utah specifically and see how often we use the death
penalty. I found an article that stated, Utah has had only 1 execution in the past 13 years.
Experts have offered several reasons for the declining use: the alternative sentence of life without
parole is now available; the appeal of a death sentence is costly and slow; and many victims'
families wish to see a more timely end to the criminal case. On this same article I found a quote
by Sim Gill, Salt Lake County District Attorney. Saying, "What you want is a prosecutor who
struggles with the death penalty, because it's a decision to take somebody's life. It shouldn't be
something we do arbitrarily. It's not something that we should be cavalier about. It is not
something we should reach to with indiscretion." Unlike a lot of people who have strong
believes, I cant decided. I cant pick a yes or a no side with these issues. I feel that a decision
comes from a case-to-case basis and should be evaluated critically.
Connecting the two quotes made me realize Utah is on the side against the death penalty
even though we currently have it in our prisons. While there are plenty of other states and or
people who feel completely different and are for the death penalty. Statistics show there are 32
states that have the death penalty and there are 18 states who do not have it or who have
abolished it. Each state has its chosen crimes that are suitable for death row but for Utah, our one
and only crime that can earn an inmate a trip to death row is, aggravated murder.
There are both pros and cons to the death penalty. Most people who are for it say that
its and eye for and eye and that they deserve what they are getting and it is stopping these
terrible people from committing the same crime again or even committing a different crime.

They also believe it costs less than life imprisonment and that it is giving the families a piece of
mind knowing these criminals are dead. Now the people against it say, killing a person who
killed a person to show killing is wrong. They believe that it is immoral and feel that revenge,
so to speak, will continue the endless cycle of violence. They also believe that the government is
using their powers to just end someones life because they can.
From my research I found that most believe that life in prison without parole (lpwp) costs
much less than the death penalty. Richard Dieter, the executive director of the death penalty
information center, said, The principal reason why the death penalty is so expensive can be
summed up in one phrase: death is different' What he was meaning by that is that every case
is different some may need more attorneys; there are always two trials one for guilt and one for
sentencing, the jury selection takes longer, there are appeals, etc. Richard and many others who
are against the death penalty are outraged with the $2 million or more cost of this execution.
Those who are for the execution such as, Edwin Sutherland, say that, It is not cheaper to
keep a criminal confined, because most of the time he will appeal just as much causing as many
costs as a convict under death sentence. Being alive and having nothing better to do, he will
spend his time in prison conceiving of ever-new habeas corpus petitions, which being unlimited,
in effect cannot be rejected as res judicata. The cost is higher. Keeping that in mind the cost to
have a criminal in a prison for life without parole can cost roughly $47,000-$1million. But the
main debate here is that it can vary because the inmate can grow sick and that causes medical
expenses. They want plea deals so there goes money for court fees and attorneys, the inmate has
gotten into a fight and could be a flight risk to guards and other inmates, and so forth. There is
just so much to each side that it is really hard to have a definite answer of what costs more and
what costs less it really just depends on the inmates.
Another main issue of the death penalty that is causing major controversy today is, guilt
by association. And currently in the news there is a case that has gone very public about a 47
year old, Kelly Gissendaner, in Georgia awaiting the death penalty on February 25, 2015. Kelly
however did not commit this murder but she was associated with it. She had a lover, Owen, who
killed her husband although Kelly did provided the weapons and she tried to hide the evidence
by starting the car on fire, she did not kill him. The dilemma is; should she be charged as though
she did it or should she get half the sentencing as though she was just there, as with many other
cases.

On CNN it reads, Gissendaner's lawyers argue she is equally or less culpable than
Owen, who actually did the killing. Both defendants were offered identical plea bargains before
trial: life in prison with an agreement to not seek parole for 25 years. Is this fair? How did Kelly
end up on death row and Owen getting life in prison when he actually killed the man? There are
so many sides to the story but my personal opinion is that Kelly should receive the same amount
of punishment as Owen but I do believe that she should not be on death row, especially if Owen
isnt. Georgia hasnt executed a female prisoner in 70 years so this case is definitely one to tune
in for.
So far there are eight inmates awaiting the death penalty for 2015. There is an average of
over 1,000 inmates currently on death row with 2% of those being women. Although these
inmates got on the execution list for one reason or another, race does play a big role in
determining the death penalty, believe it or not. In a recent study conducted by a professor at the
University of Washington, Katherine Beckett, she found that jurors in Washington were at least
three times more likely to advocate a death sentence for a black defendant rather than for a white
defendant in a similar case or situation.
Not only is racism still an issue in our world today but also when it comes to punishment
I do not believe there is a place for that. This is a serious sentence and there needs to be
professional individuals handling the case. In the same article with Professor Becketts study it
read, More than 20% of black defendants who have been executed were convicted by all-white
juries. This flabbergasted me. I think there is a stereotypical belief that black people do more
harm and participate in more crime than whites. I do feel that this type of information should be
disregarded.
There are two sides to this topic that I have found and that I know myself. People believe
that if they know the race of their victims and the race of the inmate then they can come up with
conclusions that they were racist so they killed them or harmed them. I do understand that point
of view but I also believe that race doesnt matter. Whether youre racist or not thats fine but the
fact you committed a bigger crime is much higher and more important than being racist.
Bruce Fein, the Constitutional Lawyer and General Counsel to the Center for Law and
Accountability, said, "The crimes of rape, torture, treason, kidnapping, murder, larceny, and
perjury pivot on a moral code that escapes apodictic [indisputably true] proof by expert
testimony or otherwiseAbolitionists may contend that the death penalty is inherently immoral

because governments should never take human life, no matter what the provocation. But that is
an article of faith, not of fact. The death penalty honors human dignity by treating the defendant
as a free moral actor able to control his own destiny for good or for ill; it does not treat him as an
animal with no moral sense." I could not have found a better quote to explain my exact thoughts
and my exact assumptions. Clearly my assumptions are valid and are in other peoples minds as
well. Not only are people for the death penalty but also they have the particularly same reasons
for being pro choice as myself.
My commons sense on the death penalty is telling me there is a right way and a wrong
way. I am going against others believes with the whole it being revenge theory, I believe it
should be an eye for an eye type situation when the criminal has done it multiple times or is
still a danger to the guards or other inmates as well. Its clear they deserve the execution if they
havent learned anything or if they are just being stubborn and doing things their way and dont
care. My experience with this is very limited, although my father was a cop and has told me
some interesting stories. Comparing his stories with most of what I am reading on these pros and
cons websites really makes me believe what I feel and how passionate about it I am, is a great
thing and I shouldnt change that. I believe the death penalty should stay and that is executed
correctly its a powerful punishment.
There were may sources I used to evaluate this information such as news websites like
CNN, local news papers such as Mountain News and National Time, websites like Procon.com,
as well as a lot of information from the Death Penalty Information Center online. My most
knowledgeable and favorable source was the Death Penalty Information Center. They had many
different articles and facts that were very useful to me and it really taught me a lot about
execution that I didnt know and wouldnt be able to find anywhere else. I also really enjoyed
CNN because it caught me up on todays information and whats going on with the death penalty
right now in 2015.
I do feel like there is so much involved with capital punishment that no matter what angle
or what aspect you are looking at there can always be more data to go over or new information
that can be explained in more depth. This is such a heavy subject, it is taking someones life, it
cant be taken lightly and it is always changing with new medications or new crimes, new trials,
new laws, etc. Statistics, facts, surveys anything you can get your hands on to help explain
execution would be magnificent and very beneficial. I am a strong believer that each individual

is different therefore each case should be taken about differently and personalized for the specific
inmate. Im not for and I am not against the death penalty, I sit on the fence still.
In conclusion, there are times I believe the death penalty should be in full force such as
murder or rape. But then there are those times I feel like it isnt quite necessarily such as robbery
or vandalism. Now all four of those crimes are horrible and Im not saying one is worse than the
other. However my feelings and my thoughts are just that. Certain crimes deserve the death
penalty while others deserve life in prison without parole. There were plenty of articles and data
that supported my opinion as well as had opinions such as they were completely against it, or
they were completely for it. I feel like the data and facts and articles I used were wonderful. They
expressed many different opinions and still by the end my opinion was still mine and nothing
really influenced it to be altered.