Argumentative Essay: Banning The Death Penalty

Decent Essays
Mental Illness – A handful of states have tried passing laws similar to each other to ban executing individuals with a diagnosed mental illness. The states who were able to successfully ban the death penalty from individuals who suffer with mental illnesses, argued that these individuals are not aware of what they are capable of, or know what the consequences would be. Many individuals who have been executed under the death penalty have experienced hallucinations, or has suffered with schizophrenia, PTSD, or bipolar disorder.
Race – The majority of the prosecutors who deal with the death penalty are white individuals in the states. It varies from 94.5 % to 100% of white prosecutors in the majority of the states. Race does play a significant role in deciding who is innocent and who will be charged with the death penalty, since racial bias exists. During August of 2009, North Carolina passed the Racial Justice, which means that the death penalty should be fair. The evidence and what truly happened should decide who should be put under the death penalty. I think the Racial Justice Act is important because it could save an innocent life. I find this subarea interesting because it discusses that racial bias does exists and has been proven in some cases. It is not surprising that the majority of the prosecutors are white people.
Women – Only a small amount
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The average cost of federal death is approximately $620, 930, and costs more than just a murder case. Counties would manage the high costs of the death penalty by decreasing funds in other certain areas, and increasing taxes. Numerous of states have spent millions of dollars to fund the death penalty. I also found the costs of the death penalty interesting because states are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars up to millions to fund the death penalty. It also stated that it is more expensive to put someone on death row than to give them life

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