Against The Death Penalty
Death Penalty – Why I am against it As a United States citizen living in a democratic society, I believe that the death penalty is unconstitutional. ... The death penalty does discriminate, therefore violates our constitutional right for equal protection. Most people sentenced to the death penalty are poor, mentally ill, and uneducated. ... If the victims were not white, the chances of receiving a death sentence would be much smaller, if at all. ... The death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment. ... The death penalty is not a deterrent, it is vengeance! The death penalty is not a solution for our society’s crime problems. If what lies beneath the causes of crime are not addressed, how can the death penalty be a solution for any crime? There has never been any study that proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the death penalty does deter murder; the death penalty doe not deter murder. ... As for terrorists, the death penalty is a futile threat because terrorists usually act in the name of an ideology that honors its martyrs. The death penalty is very uncivilized. ... brutality, pain, violence and death! ... Although I have listed many reasons why I am against the death penalty, my paper will focus on two points: 1) it is not cost effective and 2) it is not a deterrent! ... The death penalty is much more expensive than the alternative – life imprisonment without parole. ... And after all is said and done, many of these trials result in a life sentence rather than the death penalty. ... In 1996, one of the most comprehensive studies in the country found that the death penalty cost North Carolina $2.16 million per execution more than the cost of a non-death penalty murder case with a sentence of life imprisonment.1 Another study found that the death penalty cost the State of California $90 million annually beyond the ordinary costs of the justice system, including $78 million at the trial level. ... 3 In Texas, a death penalty case costs an average of $2. ... 4 The hundreds of millions of dollars spent on the death penalty could instead be going toward programs that actually reduce the level of crime. In 1999, the New York Daily News estimated that the costs associated with pursuing the death penalty in New York State could reach $238 million by the time of the first execution. ... 5 million for the capital murder trial of Robert Schulman, who was sentenced to death on May 6, 1999. ... 5 times more expensive than a typical murder trial because the death penalty was sought and cost more than double what it would have cost to keep Schulman in prison for 40 years, at an annual cost of imprisonment being $30,484. ... One of the most populous death row states, Florida, has estimated that, in enforcing the death penalty, it spends $51 million per year – above and beyond what it would cost to punish all first-degree murderers with life in prison without parole.