Capital Punishment’s End

Sadie Montgomery

3-8-17
 The average cost of just one death penalty case is $2.4 million and can last up to 25 years.

The death penalty has been around in the United States for over 400 years, but in other countries

beforehand. Before that, the first death penalty was practiced in the ancient times of China and

established by the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon in the early 18th century BC.

Originally, it was punishment for 25 different crimes (such as adultery and helping slaves

escape) but compared to today, the death penalty is usually a punishment for murder and

treason. During the early days of capital punishment, the most common thing to use was an axe

to execute the individuals who committed a certain crime. The first recorded execution in the

United States was in 1608 in the British American Colonies. Britains came to the United States,

they brought the British penal system along with them. Captain George Kendall was hanged for

the capital offense of treason (betraying one’s country). In 1793, Pennsylvania’s attorney

general, William Bradford attempted to soften capital punishment laws because he believed “the

death penalty made it harder for the state to convict the guilty in certain cases because juries did

not want to sentence people to death”. Bradford’s idea spiked new laws made in the 1790’s that

lessened the death penalty and abolishing it for specific classes of crimes. During the colonial

times, Thomas Jefferson introduced a bill to revise Virginia’s death penalty laws. This law

proposed that the death penalty should only be done if the crime was murder or treason. This was

the very first attempt of reforming the death penalty, and luckily the bill got passed winning by

only one vote. Over the years, many states have abandoned capital punishment as a whole; we

have gone from all 13 colonies to having the death penalty to only 18 US states. In those 18

states, about 4 of them actively use capital punishment and the rest have gradually stopped using
it throughout the years because it is “not moral” and not as popular as it was years ago (and other

reasonings). The death penalty is controversial and considered un-moral because the innocent

people who have been killed, the high prices, the violation human rights/ the Eighth Amendment

, and the unequal distribution of capital punishment throughout the United States.

Capital punishment (also known as the Death Penalty) is a government sanctioned

practice in which a individual is put to death by the state for a punishment for a crime. The

sentence where someone is accused of a crime to be put on death penalty is called a death

sentence. The act of carrying out the sentence is called the execution (of an individual). The

death penalty is legal in 32 US states. Since each trial takes over a year, there have recently been

less and less executions. The death penalty is not as popular as a choice anymore since in 2016,

there were only 20 executions. Since 1973, over 154 people have been released from death role

due to innocence because the Herrera vs. Collins case. The Herrera vs. Collins case (1993) was a

case where the Supreme Court (ruled by 6 votes to 3) that the claim of provable innocence does

not make a petitioner entitled to relief of federal habeas corpus of the Eighth amendment’s ban

against cruel and unusual punishment. Currently, there are 3,035 people on death row awaiting

to get executed. But in 2016, only 20 people were executed which is the lowest number since

1967 and 1977. In those two years, there were no executions because the US Supreme Court

removed the death penalty in Furman vs. Georgia which reduced all life sentences to life in

prison. They removed the death penalty for these two years because they were trying to satisfy

the Eighth Amendment, which is “No cruel or unusual punishments”. Currently, the United

States is the only western country applying the death penalty. Since World War Two, there has

been a sudden interest in abolishing capital punishment altogether. 58 countries still have the
death penalty in effect, while 102 countries have completely abolished the death penalty, and 6

have done the same except for special circumstances. Also, 32 more have abolished it because

they haven’t used it in over 10 years and believe that they shouldn’t practice something that

permits executions.

The Death Penalty is immoral and wrong because innocent people can get their lives

taken when they did not commit the crime they are on death row for. It isn’t fair to be killing

people who are innocent and aren’t guilty of the punishment they are receiving ; in this case,

death. Using capital punishment is an unfair punishment because the fact that innocent people

can be killed for a crime they did not commit. “And there’s no question that innocent people end

up on Death row. The innocence project has documented that at least 18 people who served a

combined 229 years in prison before being exonerated, have been saved from possible execution

over the past 15 years” (Gillepsie, 1).The “Innocence Project’ has saved a satisfactory amount of

lives, but that doesn’t account for the hundreds of lives lost due to the mistakes made in court

while giving a death penalty sentence. Since the death row isn’t a common use of punishment

anymore, the people on it must be committed for a serious crime such as murder or even

treason/terrorism. The fact that there have been multiple people SAVED from being murdered,

shows the death penalty isn’t a safe or reliable way of punishment. “ Despite safegaurds,

innocent people do wind up on death row. There have been 154 verified cases of death row

exonerations since 1973. A study last year found that more than 4% of inmates sentenced to

death in the united states are probably innocent” (Holloway,1). Since 1973, 154 innocent people

were on death row. That is a lot of innocent people, considering the death row is usually a small

number. Also, not many people are put on death row, since only a few states regularly practice
capital punishment. If these people did not get discovered as innocent, all 154 would have been

put to death for a crime they did not commit. 154 innocent lives would have been taken because

of the court’s mistake in choosing the death sentence as their punishment for a crime they didn’t

even commit. Since there is no way to tell if someone is completely guilty on death row, there is

no reasons to keep capital punishment going in risk of killing people who did not commit the

crime they are convicted of. Keeping capital punishment isn’t worth having people who aren’t

guilty wind up dead because of mistakes made in convicting someone and giving them a

wrongful sentence.

The cost of the death penalty is usually 2.4 million per case, and is wasting taxpayer’s

money that could be spent on other, more essential things. Each and every death penalty case is

very expensive, long, and unnecessary when the individual could live a life with parole. Instead

of paying our taxes to kill people, we could save the money and keep prisoners in Prison. ”​ ​The

legal costs per case skyrocket to an extra 134 million per year, well above the cost to implement

life without possibility of parole. Given the sovereignty and finality of the punishment, it makes

all the sense in the world to make sure due process was followed in all death penalty cases “

(Gillepsie, 6). ​ ​If putting someone on death row gets more expensive by the millions each year, it

is wasting money. There is no reason to spend that much money to kill people when it is cheaper

to keep them on parole. “​ ​No matter how despicable murderers can be, the state can make sure

we are safe by locking them up behind bars for the rest of their and our lives. There is not only a

cheaper answer than state sanctioned murder, it’s a more moral one too.” (Gillepsie, 4). It is not

necessary to kill people that commit horrible crimes, when we could just lock them behind bars

and keep everyone safe instead of making them pay their tax dollars into killing them. ​ ​“ Death
penalty litigation makes no financial sense. Numerous studies have found that death penalty

criminal litigation costs taxpayers far more than prosecutions seeking life without parole”

(Holloway ,6). Since it costs less to have life without parole, it is more reasonable to not use

capital punishment. It will save millions of dollars for just sparing someone’s life. Financially,

the death penalty costs millions of dollars and is getting more expensive each year even though it

is used less and less. The Death penalty isn’t fair for the people in society since their taxes are

going towards killing people instead of keeping them behind bars for a cheaper amount.

Since the death penalty is only used in some states, it doesn’t make sense for two people

to commit the same crime and one get murdered while the other has a life in prison. “​ ​O​nly 31 of

the 50 U.S. states employ capital punishment​. And even in states where it is an option,

prosecutors can decide against pursuing a death sentence.” (Holloway,8 ). ​Most states that even

still have the death penalty as an option do not use it. It has become extremely unpopular, and it

is more reasonable just to put criminals in prison. “No matter how despicable murderers can be,

the state can make sure we’re safe by locking them up behind bars for the rest of their and our

lives. There’s not only a cheaper answer than state-sanctioned murder, it is a more moral one

too” (New York Times, 10). The prisoners in custody aren’t a danger to society for being alive,

they can just be put in imprisonment so our society is safer. They do not cause a threat and by

killing these people does not strike valid reason for murdering them. “In 2015 there were 28

executions and 49 new death sentences , the lowest numbers in decades. Seven states have

abandoned the practice entirely. Since 2004, for a total of 19 that no longer have the death

penalty. Many others have not executed anyone for years. And only three states- Texas, Georgia,

and Missouri were responsible for almost all of last years executions” (New York Times,2 ).
Since the death penalty is so inactive, there is no reason to keep it going if only three US states

are the only ones practicing it. Why should 3 out of the 50 states punish their criminals with

death when other states are just keeping them in prison? These executions go against many moral

and religious beliefs, and isn’t fair if only some states use it out of all the 50 states. Capital

punishment doesn’t benefit anyone because if these criminals are convicted, they do not form a

threat to the people in society. It is more moral to keep these criminals alive instead of killing

them for the many risks murder imposes.

The death penalty has been called to the attention of many abolitionists and human rights

activists as being cruel and unfair. Killing people goes against what America believes in and its

declining popularity will support its ending. ​ ​“A majority of Americans still support capital

punishment but the percentage favoring it has dropped from around 80%in the 1990’s to about

60% now”(New York Times, 11). Since the death penalty is decreasing in the people’s opinions,

it is likely to end soon. It is unfair to keep a law that kills people instead of helping them. Since

our society’s morals are changing, the views on how we should handle and treat criminals has

changed for the better. Things are starting to become more about human rights rather than

punishment and revenge. “Taken together, these signs have led some abolitionists to conclude

that the conditions for ending capital punishment entirely are now as favorable as they might

ever be” (New York Times, 7). From an abolitionist's point of view, it's good that they think

capital punishment is coming to a close because it doesn’t support everyone’s standards and is

unfair to many morals and religions. Since not many people support the death penalty, it means

that it will most likely be ending. There is no need for a form of punishment that our society

doesn’t agree with because of moral factors.

“The Death Penalty violates the eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishments”

(New York Times, 10). It does not make sense for our country to support a kind of punishment

that goes against our own amendments. As a country, we should be following our own

constitution and stop going against it to make a point that capital punishment is necessary.

Murder is cruel AND unusual to be doing in our day and age. This amendment was made for a

reason and America should follow it to keep order.

​Capital punishment is most likely reaching its final days due to the people protesting it, the low

support, and how it completely goes against our country’s morals and 8th amendment.

​People can argue that the death penalty keeps society safe, it is a fair punishment for

people who have committed heinous crimes, and it has been around for so long so it must be

reliable. Since the death penalty isn’t as popular anymore, many people do not share their

opinion or have an opinion on the topic since it doesn’t relate to them personally. ​ ​A lot of people

do not care about the death penalty because it does not affect them in any way, and it has been

around in the united states for a very long time. Some people think by killing people who have

done horrible things, it keeps society safer and “cleanses” the people living here. ​ ​Some people

believe that capital punishment is the good thing to do regardless of the consequences because it

keeps people out of danger. It is a common belief that the world would be safer and better

without people who commit heinous crimes. Also, that it prevents these criminals from

committing the crime again. Another reason people support the death penalty is that it is a fair

punishment for the people who have murdered others. Since someone killed another individual,

they deserve to be killed themselves so it is “fair”. A lot of people think that it will serve justice

to the family that falls victim to the crime if the death sentence is carried out.​ ​Looking at the
death penalty in this way shows “an eye for an eye tooth for a tooth” attitude which America

should move past from. It shows that revenge is more popular than giving someone a fair, moral

punishment for their actions. To make America better, we should forget capital punishment and

follow our constitution and ALL of our amendments that have been put in place. Regardless of

who you are and what crime you commit, it is not worth taking someone’s life for it.

The death penalty should stop being practiced in the United States because it isn’t

morally right, innocent people can die, and it makes no financial sense for what our tax dollars

go to. The death penalty isn’t an ideal form of punishment because its many consequences such

as costing an obscene amount of money, innocent people winding up dying, and going against

human rights/ our own 8th Amendment. Also, many states do not use it anymore so there is no

point of using a form of punishment only some people use. ​ ​It is commonly believed that the

death penalty will keep all of us safe from dangerous criminals who commit horrible crimes and

it doesn’t cross a lot of other people’s minds. The death penalty should be stopped because the

unfair spread and use, the innocent people that are murdered, the unusually high budget for it,

and that it is not moral. If a policy in place goes against our own constitution (The Eighth

Amendment), it needs to be stopped. Since the death penalty causes so many threats and issues,

it would be safer for the world to have it be stopped. Also, if the death penalty were to be

terminated, it wouldn’t make much of a difference in our society since hardly any states use it

and the number of people getting executed gets significantly lower each and every year. This

unpopular form of punishment should have been left in our US history a long time ago; it

violates what we believe in and isn’t a good way to handle the people in society who choose to

commit horrible crimes.

 Work Cited

Board, The Editorial. "The Death Penalty Endgame." ​The New York Times. The New York Times, 16

Jan. 2016. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

"Death Penalty: Why America Needs a Rethink." ​CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 08 Mar.

2017.

Gillespie, Nick. "Why the Death Penalty Needs to Die." ​The Daily Beast. The Daily Beast Company,

31 July 2014. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

"Capital Punishment." ​Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 07 Mar. 2017. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

"Death Penalty ProCon.org." ​Should the Death Penalty Be Allowed? N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

"What's New." ​DPIC | Death Penalty Information Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.
N.p., n.d. Web.