Erin Mannix

Capital Punishment
The existence of the death penalty in any society raises one underlying question:
are the justice systems established out of a desire for rehabilitation, or out of a desire for
retribution? (5 Arguments).If people are put on death row, they cannot be rehabilitated.
His/her time in prison is meant to deprive them of their freedom and is a crucial time for
them to be taught a lesson. Prison is the punishment, and most people do learn from it
and never want to go back. When they are put to death, they are taught precisely nothing,
because they are no longer alive to learn from it. As for retribution, the "eye for an eye"
mentality will never solve anything. A revenge philosophy inevitably leads to an endless
cycle of violence. It is important to send a message to society that striking back at your
enemy purely for revenge will always make matters worse. While the death penalty
provides closure for victims and is the ultimate punishment, it is negatively impacting the
United States because it is very expensive, morally unjust, and ineffective at deterring
crime. The death penalty violates the "cruel and unusual clause in the Bill of Rights, and
it sends the wrong message: why kill people who kill people to show killing is wrong?
(Balanced Politics). Life in prison is a far more miserable punishment and a better way to
keep crime off the streets. With a death sentence, the criminal does not have to suffer, its
over in an instant, whereas with life in prison, the pain goes on forever.
The United States remains to be one of the few countries that allows the use of the
death penalty. Many countries have banned it due to its immorality, but in the US it is

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still a major debate. Many people view the penalty as brutal and that it is in disagreement
with American Values. Others see it as a great way to deter crime. But whos the real
winner here? Executions have been exercised for nearly three hundred years, starting
with the ancient Greeks and Asians. In those societies, it was used to thwart crimes such
as theft, property damage, and the practice of magic. The first execution in the United
States was held in Virginia in 1608, when assailant George Kendall was accused of
espionage. Most colonies accepted the practice and used it in crimes ranging from murder
to theft. Executions were public events and could either be done by hanging or by fire.
Due to its unethicalness, the Death Penalty has been a source of much discussion.
Abolitionist movements for the death penalty have been around from the beginning and
were even supported by Thomas Jefferson; he preached the idea of restricting it to the
most serious of cases. Many politicians disagreed with his reforms, anticipating an
increase in crime. In 1794, the Pennsylvania Legislature limited capital punishment to
murder in the first degree. It was the first time murder was classified into different
sectors, spanning from premeditated murder to involuntary murder and manslaughter. In
1846, Michigan became the first state abolish the death penalty. Certain methods of
capital punishment including public hangings were considered too brutal and many new
techniques were adopted. Electrocution and gas chambers became the most accepted
form of execution in the United States. In 1972, capital punishment was considered
unconstitutional as it was in violation of the 8th Amendment, and all executions were
halted until a decision could be made. By 1975, thirty states had reinstated the death
penalty by sentencing statues, which satisfied the federal courts. Lethal injection became
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the most humane form of execution and was an attempt to reduce the cost (Death
Penalty).
The U.S. court system goes to enormous lengths before allowing a death sentence
to be carried out. All the appeals, motions, hearings, briefs, etc. monopolize much of the
time of judges, attorneys, and other court employees as well as use up courtrooms and
facilities. This is time and space that could be used for other unresolved matters.Also,
the Constitution requires long and complex judicial process for capital cases, making the
death penalty more expensive than life without the possibility of parole. This procedure is
imperative to ensure innocent men and women are not executed for crimes they did not
commit, and even with these protections the risk of executing an innocent person cannot
be completely eliminated. The greatest costs associated with the death penalty occur
prior to and during trial, not in post-conviction proceedings and appeals. Even if the
convictions and appeals were reversed, the alternative sentences would still be
cheaper than capital punishment. Trials in which a prosecutor is seeking a death sentence
consists of two separate and distinct phases: conviction (guilt/innocence) and sentencing.
Other special notions, jury selection, and investigative costs add to the amount as well.
Not only do taxpayers have to pay for all of the extra costs of capital pretrial and
proceedings, when the verdict is overturned or is less extreme than the death punishment,
they have to pay for either the cost of incarcerating a prisoner for life or the cost of a
retrial, which usually ends up to be a life sentence (Death Penalty Cost). "Using
conservative rough projections, the Commission estimates the annual costs of the present
system ($137 million per year), the present system after implementation of the reforms ...
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($232.7 million per year) ... and a system which imposes a maximum penalty of lifetime
incarceration instead of the death penalty ($11.5 million)." (Quote by California
Commission). With over 3,070 inmates awaiting execution, and it costing roughly
around $3 million to execute just one, I think the government could be spending their
budget on something more useful, like school systems and roads. Also, defendants facing
death tend to have pricier lawyers and five star services when it comes to having their
own cell, free meals, and multiple guards present for every visit (Slow Death).
In addition to the cost, the controversy concerning the death penalty, especially
when juveniles and mentally ill are involved, has elicited some political and social
backlash. America is killing the economically deprived, those of lower socio-economic
strata, killing the insane, killing the retarded, killing illiterates, killing the emotionally
stripped, killing the socially disenfranchised and the politically powerless of our society,
killing those so criminally abused as children that they never had a chance to develop
normally to a well-balanced human being. (Ronald Spivey Executed 24 January 2002
in Georgia). Many people are simply born with defects to their brain that cause them to
act a certain way. No amount of drugs, schooling, rehabilitation, or positive
reinforcement will change them. Is it fair that someone should be murdered just because
they were unlucky enough to be born with a brain defect? Although it is technically
unconstitutional to put a mentally ill patient to death, the rules can be vague, and we still
need to be able to convince a judge and jury that the defendant is in fact, mentally ill.
Once convicted, juveniles and the mentally ill can be sentenced to death depending on the
level of crime committed. Like aforementioned, this violates the cruel and unusual
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clause in the in the Bill of Rights as well as the 8th Amendment of the Constitution. The
clause describes the death penalty as a morally wrong punishment that inflicts suffering,
pain, and humiliation to the person subjected to it. I dont think a firing squad, electric
chair, gas chamber, lethal injection, or hanging, is considered just.Also,the United
States is one of the few countries that still allows juveniles and the mentally ill to be
executed, which makes this debate an ever-going problem. In 2002, eighty-three
juveniles sat on death row, and over 60 mentally ill have been executed since 1983
(James).
The death penalty is losing popularity, as evidence supporting is effectiveness
cannot be reached, and by the younger population and ethnic minorities strictly opposing
it. Studies have compared crime rates against the frequency of capital punishment. In
general, data indicate that the number of executions in the United States has increased
while the number of violent crimes has decreased over the last decade. However, data
also indicates that crime rates are lower in states that do not allow capital punishment.
Thus, the issue of capital punishment as a crime deterrent is still controversial and neither
supporters nor opponents of the death penalty have been able to produce evidence that
conclusively determines the role of capital punishment in crime deterrence. (Issit).
Every year, the number of murders and violent crime fluctuates as the demography,
policing, and culture changes, making the evidence unsupported and inaccurate (Slow
Death). The death penalty is particularly favored by the upper class, white, older
Americans and not so much by the younger generation. This makes representatives likely
to back abolition to gain supporters, so unless there is a sudden increase in crime, I think
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the death penaltys days are coming to an end (Slow Death). Another reason it is losing
popularity is thatpeople are beginning to realize that death may be an easy way out for a
criminal. With a death sentence, the suffering is over instantaneously, but with life in
prison, the pain goes on for their entire existence. In prison, they are confined to solitary
confinement, essentially a cage, and live in an internal environment of rape and violence
where they're treated as animals. So, to me, that seems much more miserable.
On the contrary, the death penalty provides closure to victim's families who have
endured so much in their shock and loss of a loved one. Some family members of crime
victims may take years or decades to recover and some never do, but one thing that helps
quicken this recovery is to achieve some kind of closure. It eases the suffering and
reassures the public that immoral or unethical acts will be punished to the full extent. Life
in prison just means the criminal is still around to haunt the victim, but a death sentence
brings finality to a horrible chapter in the lives of these family members. However, is
that really as good as incarcerating a criminal for the rest of their life and having them
live with the crime they committed? No. Think about it, most prisoners are confined in a
tiny concrete cell with no access to other inmates, and only rare contact with guards, who
say nothing; they can see nothing of the outside world except a tiny sliver of skyand
this will be their life. Capital punishment is an unnecessary threat.
Overall, capital punishment has left a bad taste in the mouths of many Americans.
It is a source of much debate due to its excessive cost, unjust ways, and its unsuccessful
attempts to deter crime. The You killed one of us so well kill you, attitude leads to an
endless cycle of violence and instills into the minds of our society that seeking revenge is
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acceptable, when it is not. The death penalty, just as last the latest fashion trend, is going
out of style. I think life in prison without the possibility of parole is here to stay.

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Works Cited
"BalancedPolitics.org - Death Penalty (Pros & Cons, Arguments For and Against,
Advantages & Disadvantages)." BalancedPolitics.org - Death Penalty (Pros &
Cons, Arguments For and Against, Advantages & Disadvantages). N.p., n.d. Web.
05 Nov. 2014.
"Death Penalty Cost." Amnesty International USA. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
"Death Penalty Fast Facts." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 08 Nov.
2014.
Issitt, Micha L., and Heather Newton. Death Penalty: An Overview. Points of View:
Death Penalty (2014): 1. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.
James, Anne. "Capital Punishment: The Execution Of Child Offenders In The United
States." International Journal Of Children's Rights 9.2 (2001): 181-189.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.
"The Slow Death Of The Death Penalty." Economist 411.8884 (2014): 27-30. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.
"5 Arguments For And Against The Death Penalty - Listverse." Listverse. N.p., n.d. Web.
05 Nov. 2014.