Leah Kun

LL-131

Research Paper

November 4, 2016

Cesare Beccaria, a criminologist and jurist, describes the death penalty as “a war of a

whole nation against a citizen, whose destruction they consider as necessary or useful to the

general good.” Merriam Webster defines capital punishment as the practice of killing people as

punishment for serious crimes. It has been a debated topic for centuries. Some people question

why the taking of a human life is ever prohibited. They suggest that it contradicts the eighth

amendment which does not allow cruel and unusual punishment. Others say that capital

punishment is necessary for a society that values justice. They say that a person who commits an

act like murder should pay the full price. The cost is their own murder.

People in support of the death penalty suggest that the death penalty deters crime. Society

has a high interest in preventing murder (“Arguments”). They believe that the death penalty is

the strongest way to deter murder (“Arguments”). Ernest van den Haag, a professor at Fordham

University, extensively studied the deterrence of crime from the death penalty. He writes,

“Even though statistical demonstrations are not conclusive, and perhaps cannot be,

capital punishment is likely to deter more than other punishments because people fear

death more than anything else… Hence, the threat of the death penalty may deter some

murderers who otherwise might not have been deterred (“Arguments”).”

The pro death penalty side also argues that a just society requires the death penalty for the taking

of a life. This is also known as the “eye for an eye” mentality. They say that the taking of a
murderer’s life restores the balance of society (“Arguments”). The death penalty convincingly

shows that murder is an intolerable crime (“Arguments”). Any lesser punishment would

undermine the value society places on protecting lives.

People against the death penalty say that it does not follow the eighth amendment of the

constitution. There are many cases of botched executions. This leads to excruciating pain and

torture for those being executed (Caplan). Lethal injection is the only form of execution that

Americans have said is acceptable, and botched executions produce a growing sense that states

cannot properly carry it out (Caplan). Another argument against the death penalty is the cost.

They prove that prosecuting, defending, and housing inmates on death row is expensive. It is also

noted that of the 8,124 people sentenced to death in California since 1977, only 17% of them

were executed (Caplan). The death penalty is a long process, and executions rarely occur.

Over time in the U.S., states have argued and reinstated their death penalty statutes. As

the values of society change, so does its opinion of the death penalty. About fifty years ago,

support of the death penalty violent crime was extremely low (“Part”). Under the previous law,

juries were able to impose a death sentence on with no guidance. People were sentenced to death

for minor crimes such as robbery. In the famous 1972 supreme court case, Furman v. Georgia,

Furman cited that specific statutes of the death penalty were unconstitutional (“Part”). The Court

essentially opened the door to states to rewrite their death penalty statutes (“Part”). Today, the

death penalty procedure is by lethal injection, which is seen as the most humane way of

government sanctioned killing. While people accept lethal injection more humane than other

methods, authorized murder continues to be a highly controversial topic.

From the time a person is murdered to the time of the execution of the murderer, many

people are affected. The person that is most directly affected by the death penalty is the inmate
on death row. He is the person that is spending time on death row and being executed. The

victim of the crime is directly affected as well because he was murdered. Those indirectly

affected include the victims’ families, the murderers’ families, police officers, lawyers, and

executioners. Another person affected is the murderer. They are the people who are on death row

and receiving the death penalty. There are many people who become affected by the capital

punishment of one person. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, as of July 2016,

there are 2,905 inmates on death row in the United States (“Death”). Multiply that by the amount

of people involved in each case, and an astonishing number of people become affected.

The death penalty is a program that has a large effect on the economy. According to the

New York Times, California has spent 4 billion dollars on executions since 1976 (“High”). It is

also noted that there were only 13 people executed in that time. Not only does the death penalty

affect the economy, it affects individuals psychologically. According to many studies done by

psychologists, the death row process as a large effect on the inmate. Death row is a detrimental

process, many argue. People say that it does not follow the eighth amendment. The

psychological process that an inmate experiences is called death row syndrome (Tamony and

Harrison).

“On the basis that they are legitimate, death row syndrome is currently being used in the

US to describe the consequential psychological illness that can occur as a result of death

row phenomenon; with death row phenomenon being the harmful effects of the

conditions experienced on death row, including solitary confinement and the mental

anxiety that prisoners experience whilst waiting for their death sentence to be imposed”

(Tamony and Harrison).

Pain and suffering also come to the victim’s families. The murderer took away the life of their

loved one. Their mental distress lasts a lifetime; even after the murderer is dead.

All U.S. states primarily use lethal injection as a means of execution. There are states that

can use the electric chair, firing squad, gas chambers, and hanging. These methods are not

commonly used because lethal injection is the most accepted one. According to CNN, 87% of

executions occur by lethal injection (CNN). There have not been many executions in the past

forty years. Texas holds the majority of executions with 538 (CNN). The U.S. total is 1,376

executions since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976. There are over 2,000 inmates on

death row as of 2016, which is significantly higher than the total amount of executions carried

out. Only 16 of them have been executed this year.

Since 2013, the death penalty rate has steadily decreased. Richard Dieter, the director of

the Death Penalty Information Center quotes, “a societal shift is underway.” Experts attribute

this to a critical shortage of drugs used for lethal injection, increasing public concern over

judicial mistakes, the expense of capital cases, and a growing preference for life without parole

(Eckholm). Douglas A. Berman, an expert on criminal sentencing at Ohio State University’s

Moritz College of Law says that “prosecutors, judges and victims are less likely to demand

execution when they know that violent criminals will die in prison, especially in the face of the

expense and delays involved in capital cases” (Eckholm). Six states have abolished the death

penalty in the past six years. This trend will continue. The death penalty trend may decrease and

eventually become extinct

Crime is something that has been prevalent in society since the beginning of time. People

want the greatest punishment possible for committing inhumane crimes like murder. When does

the punishment cross the line? When analyzing the death penalty, there are things to consider. Is
it a system that is effective? Does is deter crime? Does the death penalty encourage what it is

trying to prevent? How, if at all, does the death penalty serve the general good? Why is one party

permitted to take a life but not the other? Then, the issue becomes whether the alleged benefits of

the death penalty actually justify the high economic toll.

Evidence demonstrates that the death penalty is not an essential government function. In

fact, is probably one of the least effective and most costly programs. There are elements that

prove the death penalty to be a system that is primitive and unconstitutional. The United States

should abolish the death penalty on both humanitarian and economic grounds.

Capital punishment is cruel and unusual. It is ceremonious, government- sanctioned

murder. It is a primitive system from a -a time when thousands of people would gather with food

and drink, vying for the best view of an execution. The death penalty is uncivilized and entirely

inconsistent with society’s values and the U.S. justice system.

Far more significantly however, is the very real risk of executing an innocent person. The

National Registry of Exonerations provides detailed information about all cases since 1989 in

which a person was wrongly convicted of a crime and later cleared of all charges. We know of at

least 156 people who have been wrongly convicted and executed (Caplan). Minimizing and

eliminating the risk of convicting an innocent person is the hallmark of our justice system.

Despite the procedural safeguards of due process, periodic wrongful convictions are an

unavoidable reality. Death, unlike imprisonment, is permanent. We cannot bring an innocent

person back from the dead, nor can reparations be paid to a corpse. The death penalty has no

place in a criminal justice system that puts so much emphasis on protecting the innocent.

It is for this same reason that in 1972, the Supreme Court ruled in Furman v. Georgia that

the states’ death penalty statutes as they existed were a form of cruel and unusual punishment,
and in violation of the 8th and 14th Amendments of the Constitution (“Part”). Various states later

enacted new death penalty statutes with built -in safeguards so as to conform with the Supreme

Court’s 1972 decision and thereby help avoid the execution of an innocent person. The result is

an exceptionally expensive system that bleeds the state of resources, and essentially serves no

purpose whatsoever - as the following data will demonstrate.

Let’s take the state of Pennsylvania as an example. Pennsylvania has the fourth largest

death row in the nation, yet a grand total of only three people have been executed under the

commonwealth’s reenacted statute since 1976 (Berman). Notably, the three executions that were

actually carried out were no more than assisted suicides, as all three of the men waived the

procedural safeguards and volunteered to die (Berman).

According to the Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center,

approximately 46 million taxpayer dollars are spent on the capital punishment system in

Pennsylvania per year (Deiter). Each case involving a death row inmate cost 1.26 million dollars.

Cases without a death row inmate cost 740,000 dollars (Deiter). That amounts to 520,000

savings on each death penalty case just by eradicating a system that provides little to no benefit.

The high cost of the system is attributed to the more methodical and reliable process that is

necessary to meet due process requirements in capital cases. A less expensive system of capital

punishment is not an option, as it risks innocent lives and has already been struck down as

unconstitutional in 1972. Likewise, the far more complex - and expensive -appeals process in

capital cases is the reason that a death row inmate is more likely to die a natural death or have his

sentence reversed in the appeals process than be executed by the state (Deiter).

The opposition will likely cite deterrence and retribution as the supposed benefits to

justify their pro -death penalty position, but neither is supported by the evidence. According to
FBI crime statistics, the murder rates in non- death penalty states are consistently lower than

those in death penalty states, and six of the nine states with the lowest murder rates do not have

the death penalty (“2015”). This undoubtedly indicates that there are more effective means to

fight crime. According to a national survey of police chiefs, the death penalty is ranked as the

least effective way to reduce violent crime. Increasing the number of police officers, reducing

drug abuse, and creating a better economy with more jobs all ranked higher on the list of ways to

fight crime.

Retribution also fails as a justification. Retribution, revenge, and vengeance are not

responses tolerated by our justice system. There is no plausible reason that these emotional

impulses can be sufficient to justify such a costly and risky system. We cannot live in a society

of revenge. If someone were to burn your house down, you do not go and do the same to them. If

someone kills your family, you do not kill theirs. If we lived in an “eye for an eye” society, we

would crumble.

Capital punishment is a system that should be eradicated. It is inconsistent with the

modern views of society. The data clearly shows how inefficient and costly the death penalty

system is. It costs taxpayers millions of dollars per year. This money can be used to prevent

crime in more humane ways. If killing someone is not cruel and unusual, than what is? Many

will argue that the murderer committed a cruel and unusual act, but the death penalty is only

encouraging what it is trying to prevent. It is only obvious that capital punishment does not

belong in our society.