Capital Punishment

Capital punishment; theoretically the fastest, cheapest, and most moral way to punish someone for murder and other horrible crimes, does not accomplish any of those goals. In reality, capital punishment is economically impractical, not effective in reducing crime, and immoral and inhumane. George W. Bush said, “I don’t think you should support the death penalty to seek revenge. I don’t think that’s right. I think the reason to support the death penalty is because it saves other people’s lives.” Capital punishment does the opposite of saving lives, it takes away lives. Eighty one nations have abolished the death penalty, with most of Europe, most of South America and Canada all doing away with capital punishment. Unfortunately, the United States remains stuck in the Stone Age practicing a punishment over 3500 years old.

Of all the practices used in the United States penal system, capital punishment makes no economical sense. In Florida, keeping a prisoner for forty years costs roughly $700,000. Conversely, to execute a prisoner, it costs about $3.2 million after all of the legal fees are added up. Figures around the nation correspond with those in Florida, too, costing about $2 million more than the cost of keeping a criminal in prison for forty years. On top of that, the hiring of professionals to administer the lethal drugs or to operate specialty equipment costs money. What would give the United States government the idea that we should throw money down the drain for a practice deemed useless when the money could be used for a better cause?

Though capital punishment reprimands criminals for their actions, imprisonment works just as effectively. The basis for capital punishment as a deterrent works on the idea that a criminal’s will to live outweighs the satisfaction of committing a crime worthy of death. Many studies have tested and studied this idea, but nowhere has it been proven to work. Thorsten Sellinthe, a social scientist, did a study comparing homicide rates in states with capital punishment and states without capital punishment. In the end, he determined that the death penalty has no lasting effect, saying “the presence of the death penalty in law and practice has no discernible effect as a deterrent to murder.” Another study by the National Research Council proves likewise. "The available studies provide no useful evidence on the deterrent effect of capital punishment" With crime rates the same with or without capital punishment, the death penalty gains nothing.

The death penalty, claimed to be quick and painless, regardless of the method used, remains inhumane.