The Ineffective Use of Capital Punishment

“The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes.” Capital punishment has been used as a form of justice in the United States for nearly four centuries. It was first used by Captain George Kendall in the Jamestown colony of Virginia

Using the death penalty cost more than life in prison. Having to execute someone costs about 1.26 million dollars while life in prison costs 740,000 thousand dollars. 31 states out of 19 still use the death penalty. There is a noticeable difference between the states that use and those that do not use the death penalty like lower homicide rates and the effects it has on society. The death penalty is a tool that people say helps stop crime and makes the world a safer place but studies show that the death penalty has bad effects. The death penalty actually increases crime and has bad effects on society. There have been studies and statistics used to see how the death penalty affects people and if it is actually helping or increasing crime. There

With that being said, capital punishment should be abolished because executions are carried out at a far too large cost for taxpayers, innocent men and women are being convicted and killed, and life without parole would be the better alternative. Since the Death Penalty's reinstatement, following the executions, tax payers have become extremely irritable considering the cost that executions take out of their wallet. It is a much larger cost to execute an individual, than to keep thing in jail for

Each year, approximately about 10,000 innocent people in the United States get convicted of serious crimes that they did not commit. And at least four percent of them receive the death penalty being completely innocent. Scenarios like this happen all the time because there are more and more false persecutions each day which can be easily avoided. Many people are occupying prisons all over the world, for felonies they did not execute. More than 200 people have been exonerated through DNA testing nationwide. But why do these wrongful convictions keep happening?

Ever since there has been crime, there has been punishment. One form of punishment that has existed since the beginning of society is capital punishment. As crime and societies have evolved over time, so have capital punishment, its forms, and its reasons for use. Capital punishment is defined as the execution or death for a capital offense. (Hill & Hill 1995: 75) A capital offense is defined as being any criminal charge that is punishable by the death penalty. (Hill & Hill 1995: 75) A capital offense usually means that no bail will be allowed.

Capital punishment is a method of retributive punishment as old as civilization itself. Both the Greeks and the Romans invoked the death penalty for a wide variety of

Capital punishment has been recorded since colonial times. The first death sentence by firing squad was carried out at the Jamestown colony on an alleged spy. The practice was suspended by the Supreme Court in 1972. The last execution before this period was in 1967, before being reinstated in 1976. The new death penalty was tweaked, barring execution for rape, and now mitigating and aggravating factors were considered. While imposition of the death penalty was now less common than before, it should never have been brought back. Life without parole is a more viable option. It costs millions less and also ensures that the public is protected while eliminating the risk of any fatal mistake in the judicial process. Proponents seek capital punishment in more emotionally charged trials than anything. It is more of a witch hunt than the pursuit of justice. An eye for and eye is revenge, and nothing more. Revenge sometimes looks like justice, but these two things are not interchangeable.

Capital punishment comes at a hefty price. A lot of tax dollars go to this supposed “justified deterrence” that is intended to reduce the rate of murder and crime. The money could be put to better use, such as reforming the criminal justice system and put funding into low-income neighborhoods and programs for at-risk youths. These would be better alternatives to the death penalty. Another point is the level effectiveness of the death penalty.

Each year approximately about 10,000 innocent people in the United States get convicted of serious crimes that they did not commit. And at least four percent of them receive the death penalty being completely innocent. Scenarios like this happen all the time because there are more and more false persecutions each day which can be easily avoided. Many people are occupying prisons all over the world, for felonies they did not execute. More than 200 people have been exonerated through DNA testing nationwide. But why do these wrongful convictions keep happening?

Capital punishment has been around in the U.S. since the colonial times. This is a form of punishment given to a criminal who committed brutal crimes such as rape, murder, or torturing of others. Capital punishment first involved someone to be hanged, then in the 1950s to be killed by the electric chair, and now lethal injection is the only form of execution used by the government to get justice.

in the United States because it is a financial burden on the American people and not an

The death penalty is defined as the punishment of execution, administered to someone legally convicted of a capital crime. The death penalty goes as far back to the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of Hammurabi. In the Code of Hammurabi it had a death penalty for 25 different crimes. Back then methods of execution were crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement. (Source #1).

Although the death penalty is legal in some parts of the United States, it has no place in our quest for justice and needs to be abolished. In particular, the death penalty is ineffective because of the time gone to waste from the salaried guardsmen being paid overtime, to the innocents being put on row. Due to the crucial time being lost, the United States is not spending money adequately, resulting in the downfall to debt. Not only is money being lost, but racial bias exhibited during trial is inadmissible and has a huge effect on how people in the society are portrayed, as well as treated. Abolishing the capital punishment will take the United States one step closer in recovering lost money and

A major cause of false confessions are the way they use the polices or interrogators use interrogation tactics, they leave the innocent suspect feeling trapped and guilty. Most courts condone these tactics (why the innocents confess). Even when the courts do not agree with these tactics they still let them happen. It is less work for jurors to ignore the problem then to face another issue head-on. Race and mental abilities of those being question play and effect to confess. Some government officials may be biased and use it in their power, especially if you easily manipulated and they want to close a case quickly (McCollum v. North Carolina). If you have a mental ability that affects you or your race is other than Caucasian, most people already have the stigma that you are more likely to commit a crime even if you are innocent leading you to

Capital punishment, better known as the death penalty, is the act of killing or executing a person who was found guilty of a serious crime, by the government. Capital punishment became widespread during the Middle Ages and was applied throughout Western Europe for more than two thousand years. Although, the call to abolish it started in the 18th century, some of the first countries being Venezuela in 1863, San Marino in 1865, and Costa Rica in 1877. Great Britain abolished the death penalty in 1965 and was permanently outlawed in 1969. By 2004, eighty-one countries had abolished capital punishment, but some countries in the Caribbean, Africa and Asia still use it for ordinary crimes. At present day, China and the United States apply the