Capital Punishment Murder example essay topic

Capital Punishment Murder, a common occurrence in American society, is thought of as a horrible, reprehensible atrocity. Why then, is it thought of differently when the state government arranges and executes a human being, the very definition of premeditated murder? Capital punishment has been reviewed and studied for many years, exposing several inequities and weaknesses, showing the need for the death penalty to be abolished. Upon examination, one finds capital punishment to be economically weak and deficient. A common misconception of the death penalty is that the cost to execute a convicted criminal is cheaper than to place a convict in prison for life without parole. Due to the United States judicial system, the process of appeals, which is inevitable with cases involving death as the sentence, incurs an extreme cost and is very time consuming.

The cost of a capital trial and execution can be two to six times greater than the amount of money needed to house and feed a prisoner for life. 'Studies show incarceration costs roughly $20,000 per inmate per year ($800,000 if a person lives 40 years in prison). Research also shows a death-penalty ease costs roughly $2 million per execution,' (Kaplan 2). Capital punishment is extremely expensive and depletes state governments of money that could be used for a wide range of programs that are beneficial. As Belolyn Williams-Harold, an author for the journal Black Enterprise, writes that county governments are typically responsible for the costs of prosecution and the costs of the criminal trial, including attorney's fees, and salaries for the members of the courtroom. All this money is spent at the expense of the corrections department and crime prevention programs, which are already is strapped for cash (Williams-Harlot 1).

These 'financial constraints,' such as capital punishment, do not promote a healthy, commercial society, but actually cost and harm the public. As well as being economically unsound, the death penalty is socially biased. A class system appears to be present in the United States of America this day in age, and the lower classes seem to almost be discriminated against by the higher classes. This is also true of capital punishment. Ed Bishop of the St. Louis Journalism Review, writes on how these members of a lower class can not escape the death penalty. At the height of the presidential campaign in 1992 Bill Clinton rushed back to Arkansas to sign the death warrant for a man named Rickey Ray Rector.

Despite severe brain damage from a botched lobotomy in his youth, Rector was set to be executed. At the time of the murder and at the time of his execution, Rickey Ray Rector was severely retarded (Bishop 2). 'It took the medical staff more than 50 minutes to find a suitable vein. Rector moaned throughout the ordeal. Finally, he tried to help the staff trying to kill him by finding vein for them. He eventually died - poor, retarded, confused, a nobody from rural Arkansas,' (Bishop 2).

Because a man's brain did not function properly our society felt the need to exterminate him. Perhaps, Darwinism is becoming a more popular theory to believe, only the strong shall survive. This is now way to treat human beings, we need to bring these actions to a halt and start acting in a civil manner. Capital punishment also discriminates against people with low incomes. Generally capital defendants cannot afford an attorney and, therefore, the court must appoint an attorney. The field is a highly specialized one, and since the states have failed to pay the amounts necessary to attract competent counsel, there is an overwhelming record of poor people being subjected to convictions and death sentences that equally or more capable defendants would not have suffered (Cummings).

These counsels do not consist of top, or even near top, quality lawyers, putting their defendants at a major disadvantage. Capital cases provide a very small amount of money appointed by the court for the defendant, who faces the state and all its resources to bring him down. The state can expend unlimited money, bring in investigators, hire expert witnesses, or pay for tests. Whatever they need, they can get (Cummings).

In addition to being racially prejudiced, capital punishment places innocent lives at risk. Recently in Chicago, a black man was released from death row after nearly sixteen years in prison. This man, Anthony Porter, came within two days of receiving a lethal injection, until the courts finally agreed hearing on his mental capacity. Porter was very lucky to receive an excellent attorney who managed to prove that Porter was innocent and led the police to a prisoner in Milwaukee who confessed (Kile). This shows the importance of the appeal process found in the courts, which serve to protect the lives of innocent citizens of the United States of America. A writer for The Christian Century writes, 'Porter's case brings to light the very real danger that overzealous prosecutors, sloppy legal work and poor legal defense teams will send people to their deaths for crimes they didn't commit,' (Kile).

If Porter had an equipped defense attorney from the start, he would never have been to prison and nearly killed. Ryan Cummings of The Economist observed that more crimes are punishable by execution, more states have adopted the death penalty and the appeals process has been shortened. The overall expansion of capital punishment endangers innocent lives. Cumulatively, there is now less time and fewer tools to save innocent men and women on death row.

Therefore, the death penalty may show corruptness by convicting faultless individuals instead of the guilty who commit crimes. This inequity diminishes the safety of our society. For years our society has accepted capital punishment as a just and morally sound method of justice. After all, 'An eye for an eye's eem ed to be a rationale that many embraced as fair. Now there is an era of closer examination of what is truly just and morally ethical, as well as economically sound. A consequence needs to be fair, humane, and effective.

Does capital punishment meet these criteria? There are compelling reasons to change the system we have blindly acclaimed. Hopefully we are in the process of implementing a new way of dealing with an age-old dilemma.

Bibliography

Bishop, Ed. St. Louis Journalism Review, 'Anti-death Penalty Stance. ' V 29, March 1999.
web Ryan. The Economist, 'Most Advanced Countries Have Abolished Capital Punishment. ' V 351, May 15, 1999.
web David A. Newsweek, 'Capital Punishment. ' V 129, June 16, 1997.
web David. The Christian Century, 'Death Penalty Doubts. ' V 116, Feb. 24, 1999.
web Belolyn. Black Enterprise, 'Facts and Figures: a costly matter of life or death. ' V 29, Sept. 1998.