Term paper on Death Penalty
Death Penalty Essays
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For years, capital punishment has been a controversial issue in our society. Many
arguments can be made in favor and against it. It ultimately, however, comes down to
personal beliefs and opinions. Personally, I feel that the death penalty is a very serious
punishment, and should be used very carefully and sparingly. The death penalty is
unremediable. What is done can’t be corrected. This aspect of the sentence plays a heavy
part in my opinion. The death penalty also is more costly than life imprisonment, and has
not been found to be a greatly effective deterrent.
Florida, as one example, calculated that each execution there costs some $3.18
million. If incarceration is estimated to cost the state $17000/year, a comparable statistic
for life in prison of 40 years would be $680,000.(Harries and Cheatwood). Figures from
the General Accounting Office are close to these results. Total annual costs for all U.S.
Prisons, State and Federal, was $17.7 billion in 1994 along with a total prison population,
non-death row, of 1.1 million inmates. That amounts to $16100 per inmate/year. (Porter).
From this; the cost of keeping a 25-year-old inmate for 50 years at present amounts to
$805,000. Assuming 75 years as an average life span, the $805,000 figure would be the
cost of life in prison. So roughly it's costing us $2 million more to execute someone than it
would cost to keep them in jail for life. This is just the dollar cost.
The risk of executing innocent persons is a decisive objection to the institution of
capital punishment in the United States. Consequentialist arguments (you get what you
deserve) for the death penalty are inconclusive at best; the strongest justification is a
retributive one. However, this argument is seriously undercut if a significant risk of
executing the innocent exists. Any criminal justice system carries the risk of punishing
innocent persons, but the punishment of death is unique and requires greater precautions.
Mistakes can be and have been made. This mistake is not remediable. Retributive
justifications for the death penalty are grounded in respect for innocent victims of
homicide; but accepting serious risks of mistaken executions demonstrates disrespect for
innocent human life. United States Supreme Court decisions of the 1990’s (Coleman v.
Thompson and Herrara v. Collins) illustrate the...
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