Death Penalty 11 Essay, Research Paper

DEATH PENALTY

In 1972 the Supreme Court decide that the death penalty was cruel and unusual punishment according to the eighth amendment. The Furman vs. Georgia decision stop the death penalty in the United States. In 1976 the death penalty was back because of the ruling in Gregg vs. Georgia. Countless studies have shown that the murder rate has not gone down since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. In fact it has gone up. Capital punishment in this country is an expensive, brutal and ineffective deterrent to crime.

The goal of capital punishment in the United States is one of deterrence. People want to put fear in the heart of criminals. Law makers thought that by having the death penalty it would make people think about the brutal crime before they commit it. Which is not working. Another reason for the death penalty is to keep violent criminals away from the rest of society, but by keeping someone in jail for the rest of their lives would do the same thing. Some people believe that since criminals can’t live with the rest of us that they should die.

Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 the execution per year has gone up, so has the murder rate. It has also been shown that states with the death penalty have high murder rates then ones without. In States with the death penalty the murder rate increases during an execution year then a non-execution year.

The death penalty comes down to one thing brutality we are encouraging more murders by executing criminals. By killing a criminal we are stooping to their level. We are solving a problem by killing it. This is sending out a message the way to solve your

problems is to kill. When the state starts to show more respect for human life so will the citizens.

It cost up to three times more money to keep someone on death row then in prison for the rest of their lives. In some state is cost $2.6 million more per executions. This expense comes from the long appeals process and the court appointed layers to represent them. Many people seem to think that executing a person would be saving taxpayers money but they are wrong it would save them money by keeping criminals in jail for the rest of their lives.

People think that capital punishment is a great way to solve violent crimes, but by putting someone in prison for the rest of their life, without the possibility of parole is sufficient, if not better. When someone is in prison for the rest of their life they would have to think about the crime they committed. They are stuck in prison without a chance of getting out and that seems to be a lot harder then dying. The key word in capital punishment is PUNISHMENT. Getting killed is easy, having to serve the rest of your life in a small cell with a bunch of other men who haven’t seen women in a couple of years would be a lot harder.

Capital punishment in the United States is useless. It serve no purpose, it doesn’t deter criminals from killing it actually make the murder rate go up. It isn’t cheaper for the taxpayer to execute someone, but cost three time as much. By killing a prisoner we are only stooping to their level. Keep someone in jail for their rest of their life is more of a punishment then killing them.