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Jessica Brown

Professor Thomas

English 1201

20 March 2019

Capital Punishment Rough Draft

In the United States, thousands of people have been sentenced to death for crimes they

have committed. Currently, 30 states have deemed the death penalty legal, while the other 20

states have decided that capital punishment should be illegal. Capital punishment is a long and

drawn-out process. First, crimes are taken to court, where the jury decides if the crime is

punishable by the death penalty. Then, the inmate, or person who committed the crime, will be

taken to jail, and await their execution day. Common types of execution involve lethal injection,

electrocution, and firing squads. In this essay, I will be explaining the pros and cons of the death

penalty, and help convey the reader as to why I support the legal use of the death penalty. The

death penalty should be legalized in all fifty states because it deters other crimes, is suitable for

criminals who commit crimes against humanity and it appeases the public.

The death penalty came back to use in 1976, when it was banned in 1972, after the results

of the Furman v. Georgia court case. Since then, the death penalty has been useful in 30 out of

the 50 states. Out of those 30 states, 6 states still adopt the right to use the electric chair, if an

inmate is sentenced to death. Those 6 states include Alabama, Florida, South Carolina,

Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. The latest use of the electric chair was in Tennessee during

December of 2018, when a man named David Miller murdered a 23-year-old, and has been on

death row for 36 years.

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In Texas, capital punishment is taken very seriously. Texas is pushing for an “express

lane” for the death penalty. “The provision, part of the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death

Penalty Act, shortens the time inmates can start an appeal from one year to six months.

Additionally, it would limit how long federal courts can take to resolve cases, limit the number

of claims that prisoners can raise, and restrict judges' abilities to grant stays of execution.”, says

William Patrick, a reporter for the Palestine Herald-Press. With this being said, crime rates

would decrease, because more people are now realising the consequences of committing capital

crimes. Texas tends to be more strict with their rulings, as in less days on death row, but this

truly makes an impact on crime rates. These so-called “express lanes”, will deter future crimes

and make a substantial decrease in the crime rates.

“Texas Tribune” reporter Jolie McCullough states that “at the same time, the death row

population in Texas — and the nation at large — reached historic lows this year, according to the

Death Penalty Information Center report, which noted that the total number of people with active

death sentences nationwide is at a 25-year low. The number of inmates living with a death

sentence in Texas has dropped consistently since 2003. There are currently 224 inmates

awaiting execution, according to the state's prison system.” This emphasizes that the death

penalty laws in Texas have decreased the amount of capital crimes being committed.
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Fig.1 The picture above explains the decrease in death sentences in Texas. In 1999, there

were 48 people sentenced to death. 12 years later, that number had dropped only 8 executions,

nearly 6 times less the amount in the earlier years. The death penalty deters future crimes from

happening because more people are becoming aware with the risks and consequences that follow

with capital crime.

The death penalty would also be a suitable punishment for people who commit crimes

against humanity. Genocide is a type of crime against humanity. According to The History

Channel, “Genocide is a term used to describe violence against members of a national, ethnic,

racial or religious group with the intent to destroy the entire group.” An example of this would be

the Holocaust, during the late 1930’s to mid 1940’s, when Adolf Hitler took the lives of about 6

million Jewish people in Europe. Given that genocide is not the only example of a crime against

humanity, it is the most popular one.

In mid-March, a gunman in New Zealand killed 49 people, while injuring 50 others in the

city of ChristChurch. His target was Muslim worshippers. The gunman, later identified as an

Australian resident Brenton Tarrant, was charged with murder. Since this crime is recent, the full
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legal proceedings have yet to happen. New Zealand has abolished the death penalty, but this

crime is definitely qualified for the gunman to be sent to death row. New Zealand’s prime

minister, Jacinda Ardern, insists that gun laws will change. “New Zealand Prime Minister

Jacinda Ardern said the alleged shooter had five guns: two semi-automatic weapons and two

shotguns. Ardern said the suspect legally obtained the weapons and acquired a gun license in

November 2017. A lever-action firearm was also found. While work has been done as to the

chain of events that led to both the holding of this gun license and the possession of these

weapons, I can tell you one thing right now: Our gun laws will change," Ardern said in a news

conference Saturday morning local time.”, says CBS News.

The gunman who killed 49 people at the mosque shooting deserves the death penalty.

This crime would be suit for the death penalty, if New Zealand considers revoking the death

penalty. There was no reason to commit this crime. Brenton Tarrant’s cousin, Donna Cox, even

tells news sources that he should receive the death penalty. According to Alex Chapman from

DailyMail, “just what he's putting his family through. That he is from... a very respected family,

his mum, his dad, were pretty high in the community here, she said. He wasn't raised like that,

but I'm not here to defend him. If I could ask him - I'd ask him why. How could you do that?

'That's a twisted mind right there. You'd have to be to be able to do something like that. I know

what he deserves. He deserves the death penalty for what he's done. That hurts because he is

family,” Ms Cox said. By the gunman being sent to death row, this would deter other crimes

because more criminals would know the risks and consequences of committing genocide.

Along with the death penalty deterring possible crimes, it also appeases the public and

lets them know that they are safe with the criminal being off the streets. In Maine of 2018, a
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criminal escaped from jail three times, because of his long sentence in prison. The death penalty

would prevent possible escapes from jail.

Arnold Nash escaped from a jail in Maine in the fall of 2018. Nash was convicted of

burglary and two counts of murder, and was serving a 45-year prison sentence. His first attempt

of escaping prison was in the summer of 1981. “In 1981, he fled the Maine State Prison, where

he was serving time for burglary. Local media outlets reported that Nash and another prison

walked away from farm work detail in mid-July 1981.”, says reporter Min Yvonne Burke, a

journalist for DailyMail. Nash’s second time escaping was when he was sent to Maine’s

correctional center. Burke later adds, “Nash also escaped prison in 1973 when he was 19 while

serving time for larceny in the Maine Correctional Center in Windham. It wasn't clear how he

fled or how long it took for him to be captured.” After both of his escapes, Nash could of killed

anyone, or begin to plot his next attack. Now, it can be countered that Nash wasn’t in a high

security building during the times of his escapes, but there are multiple guards at the prison who

could of spotted his escape. Arnold Nash’s most recent escape was around 8:20 pm on Thursday,

September 13th, 2018, from a correctional center in Charleston, Maine.

If Arnold Nash were to receive the death penalty, these escapes would of never happened.

He could of killed more people during his escapes, and were to be “just” put back in jail, for the

same thing to happen over and over again. Instead, more people have to live in fear of what

could happen next, if he were to murder someone else. It is always nerve wracking knowing that

there has been a criminal that escaped from a prison, because it puts another dangerous person

out there. The death penalty would put an end to this madness, and ensure future safety among

civilians.
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There are more good things about the death penalty other than the ones mentioned above.

The death penalty would be better than life in prison without parole. Being sent to death row is

far more effective than a criminal being in prison for life. “On the one hand, life in prison may

not incapacitate truly dangerous prisoners. On the other hand, if it does incapacitate them, that is

most likely because it entails the same kinds of isolation and restraint that make solitary

confinement so inhumane. For threatening, capital offenders, this non-lethal alternative still

leaves us with agonizing future choices of either dangerous inadequacy or torturous restraint.”,

says Marah McLeod, writer of The Death Penalty as Incapacitation. McLeod also points out

that “studies reveal that unless (and perhaps even if) life without parole is coupled with severe

restrictions and isolation, it may not suffice to protect others from very dangerous capital

offenders.” This quote explains that being incarcerated for life does not make it safer, there is

still a possibility for an attack in the jail by a criminal. It happens all the time, prisoners often

will beat each other up, which makes the prison a lot less safer. There has been many instances

of where a prisoner murders another prisoner. It even makes a criminal more dangerous if they

have previously committed a capital crime, and are more skilled than other prisoners.

A Florida Man, who was sentenced to jail for a robbery, in which turned into a murder,

murdered his cellmate. Larry Mark, a 57-year-old, then severed his cellmates body. Michael

Harriot, a reporter from theroot.com, explains what happened. “On Thursday morning, an

unnamed inmate took the opportunity to kill 58-year-old Larry Mark, who was serving time for a

1981 robbery-turned-murder that netted Mark and his accomplice $35, a wedding ring and a life

sentence. Sources say that Mark’s roommate, who is yet to be named by prison officials, was

angry at Mark for “pestering him.”” The detail to follow are pretty gory, in which I will refrain

from putting into the argument.

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If Mark was given the death penalty and put on death row, this murder would of never

happened. Since Mark was given years in prison, he then decided to take the life of his cellmate,

and now he is receiving more jail time for a burglary and two murders. The death penalty is more

practical than having a prisoner sit in jail for a life term.

Besides the benefits to the death penalty, there are some negative effects that follow with

it. The death penalty is a lot more expensive than being incarcerated for life. Just the execution

alone, it is more expensive than having a prisoner live and eat in jail for the rest of his or her life.

The costs for the execution, such as lethal injection, firing squads, and electrocution, are

high. Lifeontherow.com says “The study counted death penalty case costs through to execution

and found that the median death penalty case costs $1.26 million. Non-death penalty cases were

counted through to the end of incarceration and were found to have a median cost of $740,000.”

The Huffington Post also talks about how the price of lethal injection has skyrocketed in the past

years. “A year ago, it cost the Texas Department of Criminal Justice approximately $83 to

execute an inmate by lethal injection, the American-Statesman reported last month. That price

has risen to nearly $1,300.”, says Khadeeja Safdar, journalist for The Huffington Post. This is

nearly 15 times more than what the cost of lethal injection was 8 years ago. Electrocution is the

same way. It costs millions of dollars to send an electric current into the brain of a prisoner.

The financial aspects of the death penalty is a downfall for this argument. The cost of

legally executing someone on death row is very expensive, costing anywhere from thousands to

millions per execution.

Another counter argument for the death penalty is that innocent people have been

accused of a capital crime and have been executed because of it. Carlos DeLuna was wrongfully

executed in 1989.
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Journalist Michael McLaughlin from The Huffington Post says “Carlos DeLuna was

executed in 1989 for stabbing to death a gas station clerk in Corpus Christi six years earlier. It

was a ghastly crime. The trial attracted local attention, but not from concern that a guiltless man

would be punished while the killer went free. DeLuna, then 20, was found hiding under a pickup

truck a few blocks from the gory crime scene. A wad of rolled-up bills totaling $149 was in his

pocket.” McLaughlin later goes on to say how the evidence contradicted each other, and how a

man named Carlos Hernandez was to blame for the murder of a gas station clerk. Although

DeLuna fled the scene to avoid trouble, he was not to blame for the murder, but still paid the

price by having his life taken away from him.

Although there has been some incidents where wrongly accused people had their lives

taken away from them, only 5% of defendants are innocently accused of a capital crime.

Fig. 2 This chart from deathpenaltyinfo.org talks about how the increasing number of

people being wrongly executed for crimes they did not commit. Each bar represents 8 years, in

which all are steadily increasing.

Overall, the United States should legalize the death penalty in all fifty states. There are

more benefits to having the death penalty, versus putting someone in prison for life. First, it
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deters possible crimes committed by the next criminal. If someone knows the possible risks and

consequences of a capital crime, chances are, they won’t follow through with it. Second, the

death penalty is suitable and appropriate for people who commit crimes against humanity. A

prime example of this would be the most common type, genocide. Genocide is a crime

committed against a certain group of people. The most recent case of this was when an

Australian gunman killed 49 people and injured 50 in a New Zealand mosque shooting in the city

of Christ Church. And lastly, the death penalty also appeases the public. If a dangerous person

were to kill lots of people and be sentenced to death, everyone would ease up and acknowledge

the fact that they are going to be safer. If that same person were to be locked up in jail for life,

there is a possibility he can kill other people in the jail, or escape from the jail and kill more

innocent people. All in all, the death penalty should be legalized in all fifty states because it

deters future crimes, is a suitable punishment for crimes against humanity, and makes the world

a safer place.
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Works Cited

Burke, Minyvonne. “Convicted Murderer Escapes a Prison in Maine for the Third Time.” Daily

Mail Online, Associated Newspapers, 15 Sept. 2018, www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-

6171079/Man-convicted-beating-disabled-neighbor-death-escapes-Maine-prison-time.html.

Chapman, Alex. “Brenton Tarrant's Cousin Says He Deserves the Death Sentence in Wake of

Christchurch Terror Attacks.” Daily Mail Online, Associated Newspapers, 18 Mar. 2019,

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6819175/Brenton-Tarrants-cousin-says-deserves-

death-sentence-wake-Christchurch-terror-attacks.html.

Editors, History.com. “Genocide.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 14 Oct. 2009,

www.history.com/topics/holocaust/what-is-genocide.

Harriot, Michael. “Stop Eating Before Reading: Florida Prisoner Kills Cellmate, Uses Ears for

Necklace.” The Root, The Root, 17 Sept. 2018, www.theroot.com/stop-eating-before-

reading-florida-prisoner-kills-cell-1829093195.
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McCullough, Jolie. “Texas Sees Uptick in Executions, Death Sentences in 2018.” The Texas

Tribune, Texas Tribune, 14 Dec. 2018, www.texastribune.org/2018/12/13/texas-

executed-more-people-any-other-state-2018/.

McLaughlin, Michael. “Texas Executed An Innocent Man, Columbia University Team Says.”

The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 16 May 2012,

www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/15/carlos-de-luna-execution-_n_1507003.html.

McLeod, Marah. “The Death Penalty as Incapacitation .” Sinclair College Off-Campus

Authentication Form, eds-b-ebscohost-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=3b4602ba-8189-4fcc-

9e92-3b9272d45f83%40sessionmgr4010.

Patrick, William. “Texas Considers Legal Fast Lane to Executions.” Palestineherald.com,

Palestine Herald-Press, 4 Apr. 2018, www.palestineherald.com/news/texas-considers-

legal-fast-lane-to-executions/article_def9ab94-3860-11e8-8fd4-971c1a2dcd1d.html.

Safdar, Khadeeja. “Legally Killing People Has Gotten A Lot More Expensive.” The Huffington

Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 31 Mar. 2012,

www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/30/lethal-injection_n_1391408.html.

Staff, CBS News. “New Zealand Shooting: 49 Dead, Australian Man Charged over Mosque

Shootings.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 18 Mar. 2019, www.cbsnews.com/live-

news/new-zealand-mosque-shooting-christchurch-video-livestream-latest-updates-2019-

03-15/.

Staff, DPI. “Innocence and the Crisis in the American Death Penalty.” Innocence and the Crisis

in the American Death Penalty | Death Penalty Information Center,

deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocence-and-crisis-american-death-penalty.
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Staff, LOTR. “Cost of the Death Penalty VS Life without Parole.” Life on the Row,

lifeontherow.proboards.com/thread/299.

Staff, TDPF. “Texas Death Penalty Facts.” Texas Defender Services, texasdefender.org/news-

information/.