Its Time to Abolish the Death Penalty

By Isabella Tonch
Innocent people have been put to death and murderers have walked freely because of
capital punishment, better known as the death penalty. It is a topic that has been of great
dispute over the past fifty years and yet shows no sign of reforming. Many states still have the
death penalty, granted, it is not often used in many states, but some states continue to use this
punishment without remorse and there is hardly a positive outcome. Executions should cease
to exist in the United States because the death penalty is more expensive than a life sentence,
the death penalty does not deter crime and many countries without it have better crime rates,
and lastly that innocents can be put to death.
The picture below displays all the info regarding costs of cases seeking the death penalty
successfully/unsuccessfully and cases that do not pursue the death penalty at all. The cost of a
case pursuing the
death penalty in
Maryland comes to
a total of
$3,017,000 while a
case that does not
seek the death
penalty is
substantially lower
at $1,103,000 in
total costs. It is
better to fail in
pursuing the death
penalty at a total
cost of $1,793,000 than to be successful with a death sentence (The Urban Institute, 19781999). Costs are an accumulation of all court costs, as well as the costs of
maintaining/executing the prisoner. Costs are often a majority of tax payer dollars. Abolishing
the death penalty would allow for tax payer dollars to be spent on more productive and
demanding things.
It is often believed amongst many law enforcement officials that the death penalty
deters crime. However, the death penalty does not deter homicide. No credible study has ever
found a deterrent effect, (Potter, 1997). Many have claimed in the past that people do not
want to die so the thought of death as a punishment will keep them from committing a crime,
but that is simply not the case. Germany abolished the death penalty completely in 1987. The
number of serious crimes reported to the police per 100,000 persons is much higher in the
United States than in Germany. Five murdersare reported in the United States per 100,000

population for every one in Germany (Feeney, 1998). This proves that the death penalty does
not keep people from committing crimes nor improves the US crime rate so why bother with
even having it?
My last point is in that innocents can and have been put to death. Three years ago the
world watched in horror as the state of Georgia executed Troy Anthony Davis, despite evidence
of his innocence and outcries from Pope Benedict XVI (Rust-Tierney, 2014). Imagine the pain
and humiliation inflicted upon him and his family as well as those who took part in his
execution. Once someone has been put to death there is no amount of money or compensation
that can undo what has been done. Other countries look up to the United States, is it really
sending forth the right ideals at its present state?
The United States should do away with its archaic ways. The US is often viewed as a
modern country, shouldnt its justice system reflect such? There has been a surge in the
amount of people opposing the death penalty in the United States at a 40-year high of 37%, this
percentage is likely to rise (Rust-Tierney, 2014). Congress should be taking steps toward
abolishing the death penalty, and states should come to realize its inefficiency. With so much
opposition and facts pointing toward abolition of the death penalty, why is nothing being done?

References
Feeney, F., (1998). German and American prosecutions: An approach to statistical comparison.
Davis, California: School of Law, University of California. Retrieved from
http://www.bjs.gov.
Potter, G., (1997, November). Crime control and the death penalty. The Advocate, 19, 44-57.
Retrieved from http://www.e-archives.ky.gov/pubs/Public_Adv/nov97/contents.html.
Rust-Tierney, D., (2014). Is it time to abolish the death penalty?. U.S. News Digital Weekly, 6,
16-16.
The Urban Institute. (1978-1999). The cost of the death penalty in Maryland. Retrieved from
deathpenaltyfact.wordpress.com