Crime is one of the biggest issues for humanity. With any crime comes its punishment. The punishment, of course, should be one that fits the crime. In many societies throughout time, the punishment for extreme crimes has been execution. It is an issue that many people feel very strongly about. It is an emotional issue that undergoes much debate. Known in our time as death penalty or capital punishment, it is not effective in stopping crime, nor is it right. Capital punishment should not be used under any circumstance. It has not caused a decrease in criminal activity. It is also very expensive to carry out. Racial bias and many errors have been present in the process of capital punishment. Both political and religious figures have taken a stand
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Some say that the government should never be able to take the life of an individual, while others claim that it is the only way for justice to be served. Many cases have come up regarding this issue, and the Supreme Court has taken on many of those cases. Most of their rulings in these cases lean towards limiting the death penalty in different ways. One of these cases is Ford v. Wainwright, where the Court ruled that execution of insane persons is unconstitutional. In another ruling, Thompson v. Oklahoma, it was ruled that it is unconstitutional for offenders under the age of 15 at the time of their crime to be executed. In another case, Furman v. Georgia, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall stated, “[Capital punishment] violates the Eighth Amendment because it is morally unacceptable to the people of the United States at this time in their history” ("Introduction to the Death Penalty"). The right to life is one of our “unalienable rights”, which cannot be taken away by the government. In the United States Constitution, cruel and unusual punishments are not allowed, and the taking of a life is the most cruel and extreme punishment that can be …show more content…
life imprisonment argument. Although life imprisonment has a longer duration, it is still the less expensive option. The Gale Encyclopedia points out that compared to life imprisonment, “it costs $90,000 per year more to keep an inmate on death row” (3rd ed. Vol. 2). That is just the price for death row. “In Florida, each execution runs the state $3,200,000—six times the expense of life imprisonment” ("The Death Penalty Does Not Deter Crime."). So instead of taking away a human life and paying a high amount of money for it, why not just put them in a maximum security prison with no possibility of parole? It would be the morally correct and cheaper
Some say that the government should never be able to take the life of an individual, while others claim that it is the only way for justice to be served. Many cases have come up regarding this issue, and the Supreme Court has taken on many of those cases. Most of their rulings in these cases lean towards limiting the death penalty in different ways. One of these cases is Ford v. Wainwright, where the Court ruled that execution of insane persons is unconstitutional. In another ruling, Thompson v. Oklahoma, it was ruled that it is unconstitutional for offenders under the age of 15 at the time of their crime to be executed. In another case, Furman v. Georgia, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall stated, “[Capital punishment] violates the Eighth Amendment because it is morally unacceptable to the people of the United States at this time in their history” ("Introduction to the Death Penalty"). The right to life is one of our “unalienable rights”, which cannot be taken away by the government. In the United States Constitution, cruel and unusual punishments are not allowed, and the taking of a life is the most cruel and extreme punishment that can be …show more content…
life imprisonment argument. Although life imprisonment has a longer duration, it is still the less expensive option. The Gale Encyclopedia points out that compared to life imprisonment, “it costs $90,000 per year more to keep an inmate on death row” (3rd ed. Vol. 2). That is just the price for death row. “In Florida, each execution runs the state $3,200,000—six times the expense of life imprisonment” ("The Death Penalty Does Not Deter Crime."). So instead of taking away a human life and paying a high amount of money for it, why not just put them in a maximum security prison with no possibility of parole? It would be the morally correct and cheaper