1 PROS AND CONS

Pros and Cons with The Death Penalty

Fawn Petree

Modesto Junior College

BUSAD 218

Professor Crist

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 2 PROS AND CONS

Abstract

Although the death penalty, also knows as Capital Punishment has been around for hundreds of

years, there are several issues that raise questions on whether it is right or wrong. Is the death

penalty morally right and does it serve a purpose of relieving victims of the grief they feel? Does

the death penalty really deter criminals from committing such crimes that would be punishable

by the death penalty and it is against our Constitutional rights to be punished in such a way?

Does the sentence of the death penalty cost the state less money or more money? These are all

questions that have been debated for years and by every state in the United States. One of the

biggest concerns with sentencing someone to death is “what if they are innocent?” This is an

irrevocable punishment. Is it fair to put people like Prison Wardens and Physicians in a position

to facilitate putting someone to death?

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 3 PROS AND CONS

Since the death penalty begun in the Eighteenth century, there have been several

questions, discussions and debates on whether it is morally right. There are both pros and cons to

the death penalty and it really drills down to personal opinions. The idea is to deter criminals

from committing violent acts and some think that it provides a sense of revenge or relief to the

victims of said acts of crimes. With all the variables and unique situations, it causes a lot of

debate on the topic. There is also concern that some criminals put to death might be innocent to

the crimes they are being charged with and because the death penalty is irrevocable, this raises a

lot of concern. Closer for victims if the wrong person is convicted of death; moral standards for

those that have to participate in putting someone to death; what is actually costs to keep someone

on death row versus life in prison; does it go against our Constitution that was developed to

protect us; and lastly, does it teach our youth that two wrongs DO in fact make a right?

According to many courts throughout the United States, the death penalty might deter

some people from committing horrendous crimes, but the death penalty is imposed as a

retribution for the acts of the defendant. Most people that believe in the death penalty believe

that capital punishment deters violent crime and argue that the criminal will not be able to do any

more harm. The question is whether the idea of the death penalty affects those that might commit

the violent crimes. It’s difficult to conclude whether the death penalty actually deters criminals

from committing violent crimes versus nonviolent crimes because those that are committing

crimes are not rationally weighing the benefits and costs of their actions.

Killing is morally and ethically wrong, whether it’s being committed by a criminal or in a

controlled environment to stop a killer. Teaching our society, including our children, that two

wrongs make it right, is not right. There are a lot of people that are involved in sentencing

someone to death and who participate in the act of putting someone to death who is on death

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 4 PROS AND CONS

row. Those individuals are Prison Wardens and Physicians who should have a choice of

participating in putting a criminal or not to death. Wardens are meant to watch over prison

activity and control the environment to make it safe for inmates to serve their time. Physicians

are meant to help people and provide peace when they are passing; not to inject them and kill

them. It is revenge and not justice. Keeping a criminal in prison for life is all that we as humans

should have the power and control to follow through with. Putting someone to death regardless if

they have done wrong or not, does not give anyone the ability to control another’s life.

Cost to keep an inmate in prison versus putting them to death is always a big question or

concern to Americans and I thought it was interesting to learn that the cost to sentence and put

someone on death row costs more than if they were to spend life in prison. The true cost is about

$90,000 more per year with the sentence of death. Death-qualified defense lawyers, more pre-

and-post trial filings by both prosecutors and the defense, lengthier and more complicated jury

selection practices, the two-phase death penalty trial and more extensive appeals once a death

sentence had been imposed are among some of the reasons the cost is higher. Overall cost for an

inmate on death row is $1.2 million versus $740,000 for life in prison.

Advocates of the death penalty like to argue that putting a convicted murderer to death

gives the victim’s family a sense of closure but putting another body in the ground does not even

the score or lessen the loss of the victim. Because the death penalty takes decades to execute, if it

even happens at all, means that families end up reliving the trauma repeatedly through all the

court hearings and filings that sometimes generate fresh news coverage. The average length of

time between sentencing and execution is almost 16 years and in California that is about 20

years. This should tell you that the death penalty’s purpose of providing justice and relief to the

victims is not happening because by the time the criminal gets put to death, the family has long

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 5 PROS AND CONS

before grieved and most likely gone through counseling and had support of people that love them

to help them get through this type of trauma. Two wrongs don’t always make a right. Research

has found that capital murder trials and executions rarely bring closure to the families because

taking another life doesn’t fill that void. Some families of the victim even sympathize with the

families of the killer/criminal because of what they felt when they lost a loved one. Grief or

closure never really happens, it just fades with time which proves that the death penalty does not

serve its purpose of providing closure.

The death penalty is the ultimate punishment sought to be given to the most horrendous

crimes of all, but in some cases when criminals are put to death and had later been proven

innocent, it brings question to whether we should be punishing with death at all. The justice

system isn’t 100% reliable and new scientific findings like DNA testing continues to evolve

which has proved innocence to those wrongfully committed. In fact, over 171 convicted felons

were proven innocent through DNA testing since 1973. Many of the releases of innocent

defendants from death row came about because of factors outside of the justice system; things

like college studies and scientific studies – pro bono. We in society take many risks in which

innocent lives can be lost.

In conclusion, there are many pros and cons regarding the death penalty and depending

on where you stand it can differ greatly. We all have a sense of safety when we know that

criminals are taken off the streets and those of the scariest criminals of all being put to death can

give us further securities knowing they would never be released and their lives ended. On the

other side, taking a life, regardless of what criminal activity took place shouldn’t be the answer.

Our objective as humans is to live peacefully and help others to live as well. We are all taught

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 6 PROS AND CONS

from a young age that hurting others is not okay therefore we shouldn’t agree to it as adults

either.

Reference

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 7 PROS AND CONS

Trollinger, W. V., Jr. (2004, February 10). No more death row. The Christian Century, 121(3),

34+. Retrieved from

http://link.galegroup.com.libdbmjc.yosemite.edu/apps/doc/A113232631/GPS?

u=modestojc_main&sid=GPS&xid=6022fac2

FROM THE BOOK OF NUMBERS." U.S. Catholic, Mar. 2001, p. 10. General

OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A71251631/GPS?

u=modestojc_main&sid=GPS&xid=45f507d2. Accessed 12 Mar. 2018.

Durlauf, S., Fu, C., & Navarro, S. (2013). Capital Punishment and Deterrence: Understanding Disparate 

Results. Journal Of Quantitative Criminology, 29(1), 103­121. doi:10.1007/s10940­012­9171­0

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