Death Penalty, the Death Toll Rises
The death penalty has been a subject of dispute for centuries in the United States. It has been set in place not only to prevent the number of murders taking place, but also to instill a sense of justice for the victims of murder. Murder, in itself, is a simple concept: the non-accidental killing of another human being. Simply put, the death penalty itself is murder.The death penalty is murder of the worst kind, first-degree murder. One of the qualifications for first-degree murder is premeditation, and that is precisely what is involved in the killing of a death row inmate. The idea is in place to kill the murderer before they are ever put to death. Not only is the death penalty first-degree murder; even worse in some circumstances, innocent people are being sentenced to death through mistakes in the process of the trials.In the past thirty or so years, over eighty death row inmates have been released with evidence of their innocence. From 1973 to 1993 on average two and a half defendants a year were freed because they were found not guilty. Another issue found by Researchers Radelet & Bedau is that there were "twenty-three cases since 1900 where innocent people were executed" (Bush Kills, 2004). One innocent dying due to
That lesson is that killing someone in cold blood is wrong. However, they are also saying that the others were released due only to "legal technicalities" (USA Today, Willing). One study found that murder rates decline in counties where capital punishment was implemented. On a national basis, it has been shown that since 1976 an extra cost of around one billion dollars has been spent on death penalty cases. The whole point of the death penalty is to punish someone for killing. The best method of teaching a society that crime is wrong is not to show them by committing that same crime. Let us lead by example, not by making examples. This has been found true throughout the states and now only a scattered few continue to harbor the penalty. When broken down by state, you can see some of the more immediate costs incurred by death penalty cases are evident in the expenditures. Although, a deterrent study was done in Texas that showed the number of executions has nothing to do with the murder rate (Facts about Deterrence and Death Penalty, 2004). There is no justification to sentence someone to death, particularly when they were not the one who committed the act. Finally, during 1998 in Nebraska the state decided the cost of death penalty cases is so high that it does not serve the best interest of their population. It is done to "teach someone a lesson" as it were. In addition, they argue that people opposing the death penalty only use the total number of people released "to exaggerate the case against the death penalty" (USA Today, Willing). The costs of the death penalty are also elevated and more immediate.
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Acceptance Essays
