We are taught from an early age that two wrongs do not make a right. In that sense, when one condones capital punishment, which is murdering a being under lawful ruling for a heinous crime done, we are saying we have the right to take someone’s life. The question is, by achieving this, are we less guilty? Capital punishment has more flaws than the justice it has to offer; it should be abolished. Capital punishment should be abolished because there are too many innocent people sentenced to death, death penalty trials are much more expensive than life imprisonment, there are botched executions, unfairness against the economically disadvantaged, and racism is present in the trials.
Capital Punishment has been the forefront for debate for many …show more content…
Believe it or not, “per person, the death penalty is probably one of the most expensive state programs, and it produces no measurable gain in public safety. While states were spending millions of dollars on a single capital case, the average police budget had to be cut by 7 percent this year” ( qtd. in Jost 980). The United States is having economic problems at the moment, and would it not be smarter to save that amount of money? So much money is spent on these cases in the name of justice, even though they would get punishment enough by being imprisoned for life. For example, “in Texas, a death penalty case costs an average of $2.3 million, about three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years ” (qtd. in “Facts about the Death Penalty”). Instead of saving that money up, we use it for a flawed system that is full of holes everywhere that serves no positive purpose. The few positive purposes it claims to have are actually flawed and …show more content…
A botched execution trial is an execution trial that is not performed correctly; it is carried out incorrectly. Botched executions go against the eighth amendment which prohibits federal government from imposing cruel or unusual punishment. Botched executions are not done on purpose, but there is always a chance for an error, a slight margin that should not be overlooked. I would like to be assured that the criminals wouldn’t suffer at all, because as humans we believe that would be too cruel. It is what separates our mentality from the criminal’s mentality. We have a mind and a conscience that helps us decide what is morally right or wrong. In the article “Death Penalty,” it states how a man sentenced to death testified that he felt his whole body being burnt (Kiener). Problems like these make the death penalty inhumane, giving a strong reason for it not to be legal in America. Why do we need to practice it? Many other countries do not practice it, yet they are as safe as
Capital Punishment has been the forefront for debate for many …show more content…
Believe it or not, “per person, the death penalty is probably one of the most expensive state programs, and it produces no measurable gain in public safety. While states were spending millions of dollars on a single capital case, the average police budget had to be cut by 7 percent this year” ( qtd. in Jost 980). The United States is having economic problems at the moment, and would it not be smarter to save that amount of money? So much money is spent on these cases in the name of justice, even though they would get punishment enough by being imprisoned for life. For example, “in Texas, a death penalty case costs an average of $2.3 million, about three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years ” (qtd. in “Facts about the Death Penalty”). Instead of saving that money up, we use it for a flawed system that is full of holes everywhere that serves no positive purpose. The few positive purposes it claims to have are actually flawed and …show more content…
A botched execution trial is an execution trial that is not performed correctly; it is carried out incorrectly. Botched executions go against the eighth amendment which prohibits federal government from imposing cruel or unusual punishment. Botched executions are not done on purpose, but there is always a chance for an error, a slight margin that should not be overlooked. I would like to be assured that the criminals wouldn’t suffer at all, because as humans we believe that would be too cruel. It is what separates our mentality from the criminal’s mentality. We have a mind and a conscience that helps us decide what is morally right or wrong. In the article “Death Penalty,” it states how a man sentenced to death testified that he felt his whole body being burnt (Kiener). Problems like these make the death penalty inhumane, giving a strong reason for it not to be legal in America. Why do we need to practice it? Many other countries do not practice it, yet they are as safe as