Defeating the Death Penalty Capital punishment is a theory that, when put into practice, does not achieve its conceptualized objectives. Despite what many people believe, the death penalty does more harm than it helps, and a more suitable option would be life in prison without parole. There are several reasons why the death penalty should be abolished in favor of life in prison without parole, including the cost, possible innocence, unfairness, ineffectivity, and the sheer hypocrisy of it.
The cost of the death penalty is staggering and the money is not used efficiently. Trials for capital punishment cases alone cost an average of $620,932, roughly eight times the cost of a non-capital trial (Dieter). Tax dollars paying for death penalty trials have ultimately ended up going to waste. Furthermore, in New Jersey, citizens have paid $253 million in tax dollars for capital punishment trials since 1983, but none of the 197 convicted were actually executed (Barnes). …show more content…
For example, out of the 22,000 homicides that occur every year, only 100 or so of the perpetrators are condemned to death (“Facts”). Those 100 perpetrators are not the ones who have committed the worst crimes. Instead, the factors that affect the verdict are “race, geography, and money” (Bassett). None of those components have a correlation to what the punishment for the crime should be. Therefore, the death sentence has a lot to do with chance. Another important factor is who their representation is. Ruth Bader Ginsberg, a Supreme Court Justice, said that “people who are well represented at trial do not get the death penalty” (“Inadequate Representation”). Prisoners lacking a good lawyer will inevitably be given the death sentence simply because they cannot get the representation they need. The absence of a skilled lawyer should not be the reason why prisoners are sentenced to
The cost of the death penalty is staggering and the money is not used efficiently. Trials for capital punishment cases alone cost an average of $620,932, roughly eight times the cost of a non-capital trial (Dieter). Tax dollars paying for death penalty trials have ultimately ended up going to waste. Furthermore, in New Jersey, citizens have paid $253 million in tax dollars for capital punishment trials since 1983, but none of the 197 convicted were actually executed (Barnes). …show more content…
For example, out of the 22,000 homicides that occur every year, only 100 or so of the perpetrators are condemned to death (“Facts”). Those 100 perpetrators are not the ones who have committed the worst crimes. Instead, the factors that affect the verdict are “race, geography, and money” (Bassett). None of those components have a correlation to what the punishment for the crime should be. Therefore, the death sentence has a lot to do with chance. Another important factor is who their representation is. Ruth Bader Ginsberg, a Supreme Court Justice, said that “people who are well represented at trial do not get the death penalty” (“Inadequate Representation”). Prisoners lacking a good lawyer will inevitably be given the death sentence simply because they cannot get the representation they need. The absence of a skilled lawyer should not be the reason why prisoners are sentenced to