Capital punishment appeals to almost all of the general public at a high of sixty- five percent (Brant and Thomas 40). However, many of the people who argue to keep capital punishment do not know how much it really costs them on their tax dollars, and most Americans do not have the money to spend on executing criminals. In the United States thirty-eight of the fifty states have the death penalty. Over 3,000 men and women are currently on death row, and over one-third of that number reside in California, Florida, or Texas. In the states of California, Texas, and Florida the death penalty costs taxpayers around $5.28, $3.2, and $2.3 million dollars, due to the high costs of the prosecution and criminal trial. In capital trials states have to pay the final cost but the county or local government has to pay for the attorney’s fee, courtroom personnel, and for expert witnesses. Even though many people argue that capital punishment is a powerful way to make sure justice is served, in a nationwide poll policemen said capital punishment was one of the least effective ways to reduce crimes dealing with violence (Williams-Harold and Smith).
Mentally ill people may even be put to death in death penalty trials, for example in the Penry v. Lynaugh case. This is not fair to the mental because they are simply born with these defects to their brain that cause them to act certain ways. Johnny Paul Penry, a man who was mentally ill and abused as a child, killed and raped Pamela Carpenter. Even though it is technically unconstitutional as stated in the 8th Amendment of “cruel and unusual punishment,” to put a mentally ill person to death, Johnny Paul Penry was sentenced to death (“Overview of Penry v. Lynaugh”).
Capital punishment is also barbaric, cruel, and violates the Bill of Rights in the “cruel and unusual” clause. No matter what it is whether it is a firing squad, electrocution, gas chamber, lethal injection, or hanging it is horrible to have a crowd of people standing around watching. U.S. citizens criticize people like Saddam Hussein and Adolph Hitler who murdered their own people, but the death penalty is basically the same concept.
Prison life is a far worse punishment and more sufficient restriction. However, the death sentence is over in a few minutes, but prison life lasts for decades. Prisoners are restrained to a cage-like cell and stay inside twenty-four hours a day where they are treated like animals. For example, Pamela Smart was beaten by two of her inmates and now has to take medication due to pains she has very often. Richard Allen Davis was even attacked when he was on his way to seek medical attention while being escorted (Hewitt and Bane).
Capital punishment also can lead to the possibility of killing another innocent man or woman. Several cases were documented where DNA tests have shown that innocent people were put to death by the government. For example, in Savannah, Georgia in 1989, Troy Davis and some friends saw a homeless man and began to bully him. A nearby police officer who was off-duty heard the rough housing and decided to check it out and was shot and killed. There was not a gun to be found. The witnesses were not very accurate because they felt pressure from the police. The only other witness was the homeless man who had been drinking and could not remember correctly. However, Troy Davis was the culprit and in 1991, he was sentenced to death in murdering a policeman. After Troy Davis was executed DNA tests showed that he was not the criminal in this horrific crime therefore the police got rid of all the evidence (“Reasonable Doubt”). Another possibly innocent person convicted of a crime was Edith Thompson of Great Britain, who was thought to have killed her husband, Percy. She was thought to be guilty along with a suspected lover, Frederick Bywaters. The love letters she wrote to Bywaters were considered “proof” as a motive to kill her husband. After she was executed, her case was reconsidered and she was found innocent. The case of Edith Thompson was the primary reason capital punishment was abolished in England (Bland). There are many more cases where innocent people have been executed, this is proof that are justice system has many flaws.
Punishment is supposed to be for the protection of society and for the reformation of the wrongdoer. It purports to protect society by preventing the same criminals from repeating their crimes and by acting as a deterrent to other prospective criminals. However, in these respects capital punishment is a notorious failure.
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