Capitol Punishment

Capitol Punishment

Ending ones life for a crime, or any crime would not end the pain and suffering that was caused but a simple act out of vengeance. There are many reasons the death penalty should be abolished. It is a complex issue and it is difficult to point to any single fact or argument as the most important. But there is factual and logical information that must be made known.

It costs far more to execute a person than to keep him or her in prison for life. Death penalty cases are much more expensive than other criminal cases and cost more than imprisonment for life with no possibility of parole. In California, capital trials are six times more costly than other murder trials. A study in Kansas indicated that a capital trial costs $116,700 more than an ordinary murder trial. Complex pre-trial motions, lengthy jury selections, and expenses for expert witnesses are all likely to add to the costs in death penalty cases. The irreversibility of the death sentence requires courts to follow heightened due process in the preparation and course of the trial. The separate sentencing phase of the trial can take even longer than the guilt or innocence phase of the trial. And defendants are much more likely to insist on a trial when they are facing a possible death sentence. After conviction, there are constitutionally mandated appeals which involve both prosecution and defense costs.

The wrongful execution of an innocent person is an injustice that can never be rectified. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty, 123 men and women have been released from Death Row nationally. Some only minutes away from execution. Moreover, in the past two years evidence has come to light which indicates that four men may have been wrongfully executed in recent years for crimes they did not commit. This error rate is simply appalling, and completely unacceptable, when we are talking about life and death.

Race is an important factor in determining who is sentenced to die. In 1990 a report from the General Accounting Office concluded that in 82% of the studies reviewed, race of the victim was found to influence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder or receiving the death penalty, for instance those who murdered whites were more likely to be sentenced to death than those who murdered blacks. Today, about 3,350 people are on "death row." Virtually all are poor, a significant number are mentally disabled, more than 40 percent are African American, and a disproportionate number are Native American, Latino, and Asian.

Many people will ask, doesn’t the death penalty deter crime? The answer is no,

there is no credible evidence that the death penalty deters crime more