We wake up every day to hear someone has been murdered, shot, robbed or kidnapped. It is on a rare occasion that our communities do not have a day without tragedy. There is much debate and conversation, whether the people who commit these crimes and are caught should not be allowed a future. Is Capital Punishment morally right or wrong? Is it our decision and our right to take away someone else’s life for committing a crime?
Capital Punishment is the legal authorization to kill someone as punishment for a crime. Capital Punishment is currently legal in thirty-two states, including California and illegal in 18 of our smaller states. Some of the procedures used to inflict this punishment are through lethal injections, electrocution, gas …show more content…
A criminal is still a person and yet obtains their right to life which should not be taken away from them. Yes a person on the death penalty gets to pick their choice of being murdered, but that does not make the act any less cruel. When we use this death penalty we are committing murder and doing something just as bad as the convicted felon. We are taking away a life for another. There is also the possibility that there are miscarriages of justice where someone is convicted of a crime they did not commit and are imprisoned. If this person was set on the death penalty the state is murdering an innocent individual. We do not hear of these cases as often, but they are out there. Jesse Tafero and his girlfriend Sunny Jacobs were wrongfully accused of having murdered two police officers in 1976. Sunny was sentenced to prison for life along with Jesse, who had the death penalty. After spending over fifteen years in prison Jesse was executed and the actual murderer of the police men confessed to the crime. “Her sentence was eventually reduced to life, but Jesse was executed in horrific circumstances. The electric chair malfunctioned and it took him 13 minutes to die. Flames reportedly shot out of his head. After Jesse 's execution, Rhodes confessed he had fired the fatal shots confirming both Jesse 's and Sunny 's long-maintained innocence.” (Qureshi 2013) Marquis de Lafayette …show more content…
The least expensive cost to put someone on death row comes out to about 1.1million dollars which is about the equivalent to the most expensive sentence to life. Over four billion dollars of our taxpayers’ money have gone towards the death penalty. “Taxpayers have spent more than $4 billion on capital punishment in California since it was reinstated in 1978, or about $308 million for each of the 13 executions carried out since then, according to a comprehensive analysis of the death penalty 's costs.” (La Times, Williams 2011) A death penalty can be extremely more costly than a life-without-parole case. By getting rid of the death penalty and allowing loner time sentences, which would be cheaper, we could have done many other projects with the money. The money could have gone into remodeling schools, recreation parks, public transportation, and helping students pay for college tuition. We spend money easily and unnecessary things. Not only would abolishing the death penalty cut costs but it would also help us improve our national image as many countries have already abolished the death penalty. “The issue has provoked passionate protests in Europe. The Council of Europe, whose 47 member nations have either abolished or declared moratoriums on the death penalty, is on record as supporting worldwide abolition and has leveled stinging criticism at the United States.”(NBC
Capital Punishment is the legal authorization to kill someone as punishment for a crime. Capital Punishment is currently legal in thirty-two states, including California and illegal in 18 of our smaller states. Some of the procedures used to inflict this punishment are through lethal injections, electrocution, gas …show more content…
A criminal is still a person and yet obtains their right to life which should not be taken away from them. Yes a person on the death penalty gets to pick their choice of being murdered, but that does not make the act any less cruel. When we use this death penalty we are committing murder and doing something just as bad as the convicted felon. We are taking away a life for another. There is also the possibility that there are miscarriages of justice where someone is convicted of a crime they did not commit and are imprisoned. If this person was set on the death penalty the state is murdering an innocent individual. We do not hear of these cases as often, but they are out there. Jesse Tafero and his girlfriend Sunny Jacobs were wrongfully accused of having murdered two police officers in 1976. Sunny was sentenced to prison for life along with Jesse, who had the death penalty. After spending over fifteen years in prison Jesse was executed and the actual murderer of the police men confessed to the crime. “Her sentence was eventually reduced to life, but Jesse was executed in horrific circumstances. The electric chair malfunctioned and it took him 13 minutes to die. Flames reportedly shot out of his head. After Jesse 's execution, Rhodes confessed he had fired the fatal shots confirming both Jesse 's and Sunny 's long-maintained innocence.” (Qureshi 2013) Marquis de Lafayette …show more content…
The least expensive cost to put someone on death row comes out to about 1.1million dollars which is about the equivalent to the most expensive sentence to life. Over four billion dollars of our taxpayers’ money have gone towards the death penalty. “Taxpayers have spent more than $4 billion on capital punishment in California since it was reinstated in 1978, or about $308 million for each of the 13 executions carried out since then, according to a comprehensive analysis of the death penalty 's costs.” (La Times, Williams 2011) A death penalty can be extremely more costly than a life-without-parole case. By getting rid of the death penalty and allowing loner time sentences, which would be cheaper, we could have done many other projects with the money. The money could have gone into remodeling schools, recreation parks, public transportation, and helping students pay for college tuition. We spend money easily and unnecessary things. Not only would abolishing the death penalty cut costs but it would also help us improve our national image as many countries have already abolished the death penalty. “The issue has provoked passionate protests in Europe. The Council of Europe, whose 47 member nations have either abolished or declared moratoriums on the death penalty, is on record as supporting worldwide abolition and has leveled stinging criticism at the United States.”(NBC