The Death Penalty-Argument Essay Innocence: http://www.democracynow.

org/2004/8/12/ryan_matthews_is_free_death_row Ryan Matthews- Convicted at the age of seventeen of killing a grocery store owner. He was sentenced to death row and spent five years in prison. He was then released when DNA proved that he did not commit the murders. Well what if they did not find this evidence? They would have murdered an innocent man. Nick Yarris- Convicted of raping and murdering a young woman. He was put on death row. He spent twenty one years in jail until DNA evidence proved he was innocent. Wrong conviction due to bad lawyering: Jimmy Ray Bromgard- Wrong Convicted at the age of eighteen for the rape of an eight year old girl. His attorneys performed no investigation, filed no pre-trial motions, gave no opening statement, did not prepare for closing arguments, failed to file an appeal, and provided no expert to refute the fraudulent testimony of the states hair microscopy expert. There was no evidence against Bromgard, yet his attorneys failed to create a fair trial. Because of this lack of effort, Bromgard spent fifteen years in jail for a crime that DNA proved he did not commit. In about 25% of DNA exoneration cases, innocent defendants made incriminating statements, delivered outright confessions or pled guilty -Confessions obtained from juveniles are often unreliable children can be easy to manipulate and are not always fully aware of their situation. Children and adults both are often convinced that that they can go home as soon as they admit guilt. -Sometimes law enforcement use harsh interrogation tactics with uncooperative suspects. But some police officers, convinced of a suspects guilt, occasionally use tactics so persuasive that an innocent person feels compelled to confess. Some suspects have confessed to avoid physical harm or discomfort. Others are told they will be convicted with or without a confession, and that their sentence will be more lenient if they confess. Some are told a confession is the only way to avoid the death penalty. Cost: http://www.deathpenalty.org/article.php?id=42 http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/03/27/just-cost-death-penalty-killer-state-budgets/ http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/drowfacts.htm According to the Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, the annual cost of a system that uses the death penalty is 137 million per year. A system that favors life incarceration will cost 11.5 million per year. We must consider all aspects of sentencing someone to death. The trial itself costs $1.9 million more than a non-death penalty trial. Then those sentenced to death will costs us even more as they are put on death row. California taxpayers pay $90,000 more per death row prisoner each year than on prisoners in regular confinement. This is due to the extra rooms and extra guards that are included on death row. Then finally, there is the cost of the actual killing. Every time a killer is sentenced to death, the money it costs to keep this man on death row and eventually kill me, causes a school to close. These are our schools; This is our tax money. Family:

Rebuttal***You may consider the emotions of the victims of family. They are probably hurting and need catharsis to feel a sense of ease. Yet, if you kill the murderer(s) of the victim you are creating another victim. Just like the original victim, this victim will have family and friends that care for them. Thus, this creates another group of people feeling a need for catharsis. Is it right to make another family hurt in attempt to ease anothers pain? Examples: -Dicks mother and father in In Cold Blood And, he added, fatigue and defeat glazing his eyes, having your boy hang, knowing he will, nothing worse can happen to a man-Mr. Hickock (page 259). -On July 21, 2008 fourteen year old Paige Wood holds a sign in front of crowd reading If you kill my dad, Jeff Wood, you are killing me. Paige was three years old when her father was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. But her father never pulled the trigger. He is being put to death for involvement in the murder. I have been without my father for many years, and I have suffered greatly because of this. I need my father. I need to be able to hug him, and to sit in his lap, and just talk when I need somebody. I have been deprived because of somebody else's crime. Should I continue to be punished? I have has a lot to deal with over these years. I have struggled in school, I have been alone, and I have done it all without my lifeline. My father. Please do not kill him, he did not kill anyone. He is a kind gentle man, and I need him. If you kill him, you are killing me. -Paige Wood