Death Penalty Research Paper

Submitted By dpchrestman
Words: 829
Pages: 4
Open Document
10/1/12 Against Death Penalty

Should the United States have death penalty? In my opinion, the United States should not have the death penalty due to lack of money, racism, and violation of international human rights laws. Sixty one point eight percent has voted yes to death penalty and the rest has voted no (justicflorida.com).
The death penalty is somewhat racist. African Americans are twelve percent of the United States population but forty-two percent of them are on death row. Blacks are fifty percent of murder victims each year but eighty percent of death penalty victims are white and only fourteen percent are black (CAMPAIGN TO END). Other than racism, some religions forbid the death penalty.
The cost for a single person would be two million dollars for free council for defense and maximum security on a separate death row wing (Reasons to Be Against). In 2011, California alone had spent more than four billion on capital punishment since 1978. Death penalty trials are way more expensive then life in prison. California currently spends one hundred eighty-four million dollars each year and is on track to spend one million in the next five years. Those who cannot afford a good legal representation will not end up on death row (deathpenalty.com). Over ninety percent of defendant charges cannot afford an experience criminal attorney, they are forced to use inexperienced, overwhelmed, underpaid lawyers (CAMAPIGN TO END). Our government is already in debt by millions, people should not have to pay more on taxes for the execution of other people.
Murder rate in the United States is six times that of Britain and five times that of Australia, neither country has the death penalty (Reasons to Be Against). Texas and Oklahoma have the top two murder rates and have the most number of death row inmates. In 2003, their numbers have increased both higher than nationals average. An updated version of the death row inmates would still be Texas but now it’s Virginia coming in second (Newport). Since 1990, thirty countries have abolished the death penalty. The United States has more than three thousand-two hundred people on death row. In 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated, more than one thousand and two hundred people have been executed, over thirty five percent of that in Texas alone. The death penalty was down sixty-four percent in 2005, down from a high of eighty percent in 1994. The lowest number of executions was in 2006, the lowest number people have seen in thirty years (CAMPAIGN TO END). Statistics show that the death penalty rate is going down and will continue to decrease throughout the near future.
If people were put in jail for what they did for the rest of their lives instead of the death penalty, they would have to deal with the consequences and will have to suffer in jail rather than being deceased and free elsewhere. People know that it is not okay to kill and that it is against the law. Being for the death penalty shows the public that it is okay to be killing people in a difficult situation (Reasons to Be Against). Life without parole sentences is cheaper to taxpayers and keeps violent offenders off the street for good. Life without parole allows mistakes to be corrected by the jury (deathpenalty.com).
Show More

Related Documents: Death Penalty Research Paper

Death Penalty Essay

Death Penalty By Susan Doe April 15, 2013 Is the Death Penalty Just and Applied Fairly? The death penalty, also known as capital punishment, is the punishment of execution, administered to someone convicted of a capital crime; it is the most severe form of corporal punishment. The death penalty in the United States has been an ongoing debate throughout history. Capital punishment has been banned in many countries, except in the United States; there are thirty-three states that currently…

Words 2051 - Pages 9

Death Penalty Essay

What are the latest developments concerning the death penalty? In June 2008, the Supreme Court held that it was cruel and unusual punishment to use the death penalty against individuals convicted of raping a minor. In April 2008, the Supreme Court has held that lethal-injection procedures in Kentucky do not violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The action opens the way for an end to a de facto national moratorium on lethal injection executions that has…

Words 1352 - Pages 6

Death Penalty Essay

Is the Death Penalty Just and Applied Fairly? I. What is the death penalty? a. Capital Punishment b. Fifth Amendment II. History a. Babylonia B.C. b. First execution in the colonies c. First woman to be executed III. Pros a. Eye for an eye b. Closure c. Getting rid of evil d. Deter crime IV. Cons a. Discriminatory b. Risk of executing the innocent V. Statistics a. By year b. By state VI. Alternatives to the Death Penalty a. Life Sentence VII. Death Penalty here to stay…

Words 1276 - Pages 6

Death Penalty Essay

07/29/2013 The Pros and Cons of the Death Penalty in America The ’Death Penalty’ is a problem of much concern; many countries favor the ‘Death Penalty’ and apply that, while many other object strongly to this punishment. My opinion is that the death penalty should be banned as a form of punishment. What is Capital punishment? Capital punishment is the death penalty. It is used today and was used in ancient times to punish a variety of offences. The death penalty has no place in a civilized society…

Words 651 - Pages 3

Death Penalty Essay

Capital punishment is a prudent issue that creates a spectacle among those for and against the death penalty. From those that have lost loved ones from homicides to those that have committed murder and are then “lawfully”, according to the judicial systems, put to death. Although those for and against the death penalty may agree that there is a lawful and unlawful treatment of people, there is discern on who has the right to make the decision on who lives and who dies. Does man have the right to…

Words 1384 - Pages 6

Essay on death penalty

Death Penalty Lots of crimes happen throughout society but murder is the most harmful, not only to the victim but also to the victim’s family. The death penalty will bring justice to the victim and their family. Uma Kukaths said, “Death penalty supporters claimed that not only is the state justified in permanently removing a murderer from society, it is obliged to do so to protect its law-abiding citizens from harm”. The victim’s family would be happy to know that the murderer is gone and justice…

Words 902 - Pages 4

Essay on Death Penalty

the capital punishment. Capital punishment is a life or death situation. It is the execution of people who have been found guilty of certain offenses. Many people in today’s society believe that a death crime is so severe that they deserve a punishment equal to their crime. In some people’s mind they believe in killing the killer, but how does that show us that killing is morally okay? There are numerous proven reasons why the death penalty should be abolished. The best reasons are to not violate…

Words 910 - Pages 4

Death Penalty Essay

The topic about whether or not the death penalty should be abolished has been a very controversial one for years. Dating back to the first English colonies in the 1600’s, the death penalty, or capital punishment as it is formally referred to, is a part of American history that never began to be questioned until the American Revolution in 1776. To this day, many people have mixed opinions on the matter. Some people strongly believe that the death penalty should be instituted, while others strongly…

Words 642 - Pages 3

Death Penalty Essay

This is a dossier on the effectiveness and the racially implicated sanctions for the application of the Death Penalty. This paper is a general indictment of the entire criminal justice system, and the faults that exist within. This is not an attempt to sway your opinion, but instead to raise the awareness of those of us who hold the creed of this Great Nation dear and the potential that it holds. I think that in the terms of greatness there is a clause that as a people and a nation, we continue…

Words 1860 - Pages 8

death penalty Essay

Death Penalty Life and death; the two things that all birthed beings are guaranteed. Two concepts that are understood to be normal and unavoidable. Our mortality, though deeply mysterious and uncontrollable, is something that we have come to accept on a basic level. We all know that to live, means to die. That once we are born into life, our fate has been inevitably sealed to a single future. That though the means and the details may vary according to the individual, we will all certainly die.…

Words 1047 - Pages 5