Capital
Punishment is morally and ethically wrong. The effectiveness of this form of
justice is not apparent and by no means out weigh the negative results of this
practice. Taking away another human’s
life is unacceptable no matter what the circumstances are, killing a person is
murder. The first formal executions date back to Eighteenth Century B.C.E.
under the rule of King Hammaurabi of Babylon.
Since that time Capital Punishment has under gone many reforms and
modifications. The first recorded execution in America
was of Captain George Kendall in the Jamestown
colony of Virginia
in 1608. He was sentenced to death after being found guilty of treason. At
first crimes which were punishable by death were very broad. Slowly reforms and
acts begin to eliminate capital crimes which did not fit a punishment of death.
Capital Punishment is still a major issue facing our country today. Factual
evidence and under moral and ethical reasoning it is clear that our country
should in fact abolish this form of justice.
One
may wonder how it is possible that killing a man can be significantly more
expensive then housing him in a penitentiary for life. Although this idea may
be hard to believe it is in fact very truthful. When a prosecution seeks the
death penalty as a sentence the defendant has numerous opportunities to appeal
the courts final decision. In the eyes of the defendant, each appeal carries a
small chance of a reversal, but more importantly extends the time period in
which the criminal has to live. On average death penalty trials takes up to 34
days to incomplete, that is significantly longer then non-death penalty trials
which only take 9 days
It is clearly evident that even officials who utilize this system of
justice agree how inefficient the cost is. Some states pay costs tied to
Capital Punishment trials and have not seen any executions actually occur. A
report done by The New Jersey Policy Perspectives found that New Jersey taxpayers over the last 23 years
have paid more than a quarter billion dollars on a capital punishment system
that has executed no one. This is a ridiculous concept when the public is taxed
for a practice which is not even being utilized. These figures are found across
our nation. In California
90 million dollars are added to the normal cost of justice per year. Out of
that 90 million, 78 million dollars is lost to the cost of a trial. These costs
certainty impact each state, but greater damage is done to single counties. The
costs of these trials are devastating to each county’s budget. Katherine
Baicker wrote an abstract written in the National Bureau of Economic Research.
This literature revealed how trials are quite costly relative to county budgets
and that the costs are reducing expenditures on highways and police and in
large part by increasing taxes.
Since the Federal Government covers only so
much of each counties expense they suffer greatly when forced to pay the costs
of Capital Punishment cases.
It is clear that reports and
factual evidence support the claim that Capital Punishment is wasting tax
payers’ money. Supporters of Capital Punishment may suggest that the extra
money is well spent because Capital Punishment has helped ‘purify’ our society.
This claim has been proven un-true by factual evidence.
The
death penalty is a practice utilizing fear in order to scare criminals out of
committing a crime. This concept does in fact make a lot of sense. The fear of
death is a universal phobia, even the nastiest criminals posses. While the idea
of using the death as a deterrent to crime may seem logical, facts and figures
have proven otherwise. States with the death penalty have had higher crime
rates then states without the death penalty. This concept suggests that the
death penalty does not in fact decrease crimes when compared to states that do
not use this punishment. According The Death Penalty Information Center, as
executions increased states without the death penalty did much better than
states with the death penalty in reducing their murder rates.
Our
Government kills people in order to show people that killing is wrong. While
death may be seen as an equal punishment to murder most methods of execution
are quick and painless. One can even argue criminals sentenced to death get of
easier than taking away their freedom by sentencing them to life in prison. If
prosecutors truly want to punish criminals they should torture them that would
truly be a punishment which fits the crime of murder. Casey Carmical has
written many conflicting articles on the death penalty one quote says “If the
abolitionist argues that killing is always wrong, then he must also concede
that killing in self-defense is unacceptable and should be punished.” This is a
valid statement in that two wrongs do not make righteousness. The definition of
morality is the distinction between good and evil or right and wrong; right or
good conduct. Murder of any kind is in fact an immoral act. The Ten
Commandments strictly prohibit this act. No where in the bible does it say it
is okay to murder someone if they have murdered themselves.