Capital Punishment

According the Webster's Dictionary capital punishment is defined as, "the judicially ordered execution of a prisoner as a punishment for a crime". Amnesty International claims that there were 3,797 of these "judicial" executions worldwide in 2004. Although the majority of American's believe that capital punishment is an effective method of criminal deterrence, upon closer inspection we find that the death penalty actually causes much more negative effects on society than positive ones.

American's were asked, "Are you in favor of the death penalty for a person convicted of murder?" and a resounding 71 percent of American's responded that they were in favor (Gallup Poll 2004).This opinion with regards to the death penalty is not a new one either, the majority of America has been in favor of the death penalty for the past 50 years. One of the most common reasons why executions are said to be beneficial is that they are preventative and provide deterrence for future criminals. Indeed murdering the murderer does prevent the criminal element from returning to society, as well as providing an example for those who were to think of committing future crimes. In Stuart Banner's book, The Death Penalty: An American History, Stuart states that, "Many people claim that the death penalty is regarded as "cruel and unusual punishment", but quite the opposite is true. Putting a felon to death is often less cruel than having them live out their lives within the confines of the American prison system" (Banner 48). Indeed this is true considering that the percentage of a felon dying of natural causes in a state prison is actually less than the felon in question being murdered by another convict. (Schwartz) In an interview with Sergeant Thomas Pasolo of the New York City Police Department, he stated that, "Repeat offenders are one of our biggest problems on the streets; rehabilitation does not work for many of these people". Indeed over 60 to 80 percent of those involved in violent offences will commit another offence as soon after being released into society again (Banner) With these statistics it is almost incomprehensible that murderers can be rehabilitated, let alone be released into society. In addition to removing the criminal threat from society permanently, execution also provides alleviation of pain to the families of the victim. Banner states, "Although execution of a murderer may not provide full justice for the victim, it is the closest form of justice" (Banner 51) Even though embracing an eye for an eye justice, execution is the nearest thing the murdered person will get to an equivalent exchange for his or her life. In addition to all of these moral reasons, from a pure economic perspective execution is the viable and preferred method. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, it costs an average of 1,100,000 dollars to house and feed a prisoner for 50 years. Whereas the most states do not spend more than 60,000 dollars on an execution, including labor, funeral, and cost of lethal injection drugs. In fact on the Arizona State Department of Public Safety's webpage there are specific costs for each execution according to inmate, for prisoner #33456 also known as Randy Greenwalt was 4,572 dollars, including his last meal. There are those whom argue that in reality the cost of an execution is actually much higher due to appeal trials, and parole hearings. But the fact remains that the execution itself an extremely economic sound alternative to life in prison, the problem lies with appellate courts and our bureaucratic system of government. Although capital punishment is an economically sound method of criminal elimination which provides closure to the family of the victim there are still a small majority of Americans who oppose the death penalty.

Victor Hugo a famous novelist of the 19th century wrote, "What does the law say? You will not kill! How does it say it? By killing!"(Hugo. Les Misйrables Pg. 355)

Hugo's words bluntly put the anti-capital punishment into perspective. The simplest argument made with regards to capital punishment is that, the United States regardless of moral, economic, or personal beliefs is in conflict with itself, effectively making a reductio ad absurdum (ridiculous argument). The United States has agreed to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, more particularly articles 3 and 5 strictly forbid the taking of ones life, regardless of weather that is by another person or a government. (Declaration of Human Rights Articles 3 and 5) Law is strictly not allowed to contradict itself yet this blatant and defiant breaking of law has gone unchanged. Criminal proceedings are fallible. Some people facing the death penalty have been exonerated, sometimes only minutes before their scheduled execution. Others have been executed before evidence clearing them is discovered. While criminal trials not involving the death penalty can also involve mistakes, there is at least the opportunity for those mistakes to be corrected. This has been particularly relevant in cases where new forensic methods have become available. Since 1973, 119 people in 25 US states have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence (Crime and Delinquency Volume 51). In addition to the fact that there could be possible innocent people involved in these executions recent studies have shown that capital punishment acts as a deterrent. (Professor Fagan. Colombia Law) It is also argued that anyone who would be deterred by the death penalty would already have been deterred by life in prison, and people that are not deterred by that would not be stopped by any punishment. This argument is typically supported by claims that those states that have implemented the death penalty recently have not had a reduction of violent crime. A stronger variant of this argument suggests that criminals who believe they will face the death penalty are more likely to use violence or murder to avoid capture, and that therefore the death penalty might theoretically even increase the rate of violent crime (Goertzel. "Capital Punishment and Society"). In addition to increasing crime, with the inclusion of mistrials, appeals, and extra supervisions an execution may actually cost more than life in prison. There have been cases which have gone on to rack up over 6 million dollars in costs to finally get an execution, whereas life imprisonment would have cost 1.1 million. (Federal Bureau of Prisons) Additionally, many of death sentences are overturned on appeal. So the cost is incurred,