Death Penalty And Capital Punishments example essay topic
Not only should every state in America use the death penalty, it should also be done in a much quicker process. Following through with the punishments at a faster pace will cut down on the costs. Today, it costs approx. $34,400 per year for 50 years, at a 2% annual cost increase, plus $75,000 for trials and appeals to house a criminal with life in prison. This all adds up to about $3.01 million. The cost for a death penalty is $60,000 per year for 6 years, at 2% annual cost increase, plus $1.5 million for trials and appeals.
This all adds up to be $1.88 million (web), there is no question that the up front costs of the death penalty are significantly higher than the life in prison costs. Yet, there is also no question that over time the costs for life in prison are much more expensive than the costs of the death penalty. If the government makes it so the criminal has less time to appeal their sentence, the $1.5 million used for appeals and trial will go down. Plus, with DNA technology, today, we can be 100% sure that the offender did commit a capital crime, therefore they will have no need for appeals.
If the government is not 100% sure than they will not give them this sentence, mandating that they do not need to appeal. If they continue to improve our DNA testing and make the time allowed for appeals shorter, if any, than it should save lives, time, and money (web). The ultimate penalty of death is necessary for the punishment of terrible crimes because it provides the most complete retribution and condemnation. The threat of execution is a major deterrent of crime. This is because death is so much more feared than the mere restrictions on one's liberty. For example, if a person were to be caught stealing in a foreign country they would cut off their hand but in America if someone is caught stealing you get a mere slap on the hand, so to speak.
Which person would be more likely to commit another offense, the cripple, or the person with only a red mark on their hand? Criminals are not afraid to lose their liberty and rights but if they realize what will happen if capital punishment is in use and they commit a capital offense, they might step back and think before doing anything drastic. If citizens implement the usage of the death penalty in all 50 states and eventually all over the world, crime and murder rates will drop. Death clearly incapacitates the criminal and prevents them from committing any other offenses. Life without parole cannot prevent or deter offenders from killing prison staff or other inmates. It also cannot deter them from taking hostages to further an escape because they would have nothing else to lose.
Even in high security prisons there is always someone who tries to escape and occasionally is successful. If people have endless time to plan an escape and everything to gain by doing so, it is a strong incentive. Capital punishment permanently removes the worst criminals from society and is safer for the rest of us than long term or permanent incarceration. It is self evident that dead criminals can not commit any further crimes. Also, research shows that the murder rate in the United States dropped from 24,562 in 1993 to 18,209 in 1997, the lowest in years.
All of which was a 26% reduction in only a 4-year time frame (web). These decreases all happened within a period of time when the use of capital punishment and the death penalty were increased. According to recent Home Office statistics, in Britain, since the abolishing of the death penalty in 1964, the murder rate has more the doubled and there have been 71 murders committed by people who have been released after serving 'life sentences'. Because of using the death penalty and capital punishments there was a decrease in crime and murder rates. Therefore, if we no longer use these types of consequences than murder rates and crime rates will increase. They will not only increase in the states that no longer use them but they will increase nationally.
Plus, who will want to live in a nation where murderers and criminals are not dealt with fairly? Capital punishment is justified because there won't be worries about the state paying for criminals' lifetime in jail, it will provide retribution and condemnation, and crime and murder rates will decrease. Using capital punishment prevents many unnecessary deaths and crimes. If we no longer use it deaths and crimes will increase, due to the fact that the consequences are not severe enough to make the criminal think before they act. Capital punishment is justified! Without this consequence for serious capital offenders our lives would be much different.
The offenders would be sentenced to life in prison and would have abundant amounts of time to plan a way of escape. If they were successful they would have the opportunity to commit more serious crimes. If they were not successful, they would be spending endless amounts of time with other inmates and everyone knows what happens when someone spends too much time with someone. They begin to annoy each other, and if someone annoys a violent criminal the outcome cannot be good! To prevent all of this from happening, we must enforce the usage of capital punishment..