From 1973 to 2017, approximately one hundred and sixty-one inmates on death row have been released, due to their innocence (“Innocence: List of Those Freed From Death Row”). Yet, this year alone, forty-four executions have been scheduled and six inmates have been executed. Although the death penalty remains legal in some states, it is an out of date and inhumane way to deal with criminals and should be outlawed. Capital punishment has many disadvantages, including the cost, the consistency of inmates, and inmates on death row who are wrongly convicted. There are also many reasons for the death penalty to be outlawed within the moral values. The death penalty has been a way of punishment since the beginning of civilization, but with everything
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First is the problem of cost, taxpayers have spent fifty-one million dollars a year for the past thirty years on executions, with only two executions a year at the federal level, this means the US spends twenty-four million per execution. (Pudlow). In California, capital punishment costs three hundred and eight million dollars per execution, adding up to four billion dollars from 1978-2011. This is because the government and taxpayers must pay for housing, medical care, and the legal cost of all inmates on death row. In a study done by Evans, it was discovered that outlawing capital punishment and giving more life sentences would save billions over the next two decades (Evans, “Statistics”). If the United States outlawed capital punishment, it would result in extra money to fund more important issues. Secondly, there is an issue of consistency with the inmates on death row. In one case, a prisoner was executed for a murder that he did not commit, but that his partner did. He was not aware of the crimes that his partner was committing, but received the death penalty, when his partner got life in prison (O'Sullivan 15). America has a very big problem if some people are being executed for a crime, while their partner is receiving life in prison. There have also been issues with race. In 1982, forty-two percent of criminals on death row were black when only twelve percent of the population was African American (O'Sullivan 25). There are still no standards on what crimes are given the death sentence, this results in inconsistencies in inmates. Finally, there have been many innocent people on death row. In total, there have been twenty-three people known to have been executed for crimes they did not commit, ten of these people were from Alabama alone (O’Sullivan 24). The Innocence Project is something
First is the problem of cost, taxpayers have spent fifty-one million dollars a year for the past thirty years on executions, with only two executions a year at the federal level, this means the US spends twenty-four million per execution. (Pudlow). In California, capital punishment costs three hundred and eight million dollars per execution, adding up to four billion dollars from 1978-2011. This is because the government and taxpayers must pay for housing, medical care, and the legal cost of all inmates on death row. In a study done by Evans, it was discovered that outlawing capital punishment and giving more life sentences would save billions over the next two decades (Evans, “Statistics”). If the United States outlawed capital punishment, it would result in extra money to fund more important issues. Secondly, there is an issue of consistency with the inmates on death row. In one case, a prisoner was executed for a murder that he did not commit, but that his partner did. He was not aware of the crimes that his partner was committing, but received the death penalty, when his partner got life in prison (O'Sullivan 15). America has a very big problem if some people are being executed for a crime, while their partner is receiving life in prison. There have also been issues with race. In 1982, forty-two percent of criminals on death row were black when only twelve percent of the population was African American (O'Sullivan 25). There are still no standards on what crimes are given the death sentence, this results in inconsistencies in inmates. Finally, there have been many innocent people on death row. In total, there have been twenty-three people known to have been executed for crimes they did not commit, ten of these people were from Alabama alone (O’Sullivan 24). The Innocence Project is something