Death Penalty

My classmate Lauren wrote a very good commentary on The End of Death Row. One very important point she hit on was, “While I understand the financial strain of keeping criminals alive in our prison system, I think there are other ways we can cut back on the mass amounts of spending that occur toward our prisons. However, the financial issue is hard for me to grasp, as the death penalty itself brings extra costs upon our prisons.” This I believe is so very, very true. The death penalty is much more expensive then it’s alternative, life in prison. Texas is spending an estimated total of $2.3 million on each case. This is about three times more than imprisoning someone at the maximum security level for forty years. The trial themselves cost more than just a regular murder trial. Yes, people believe it is needed to help lower the population in overcrowded prisons. However, I believe there are other things to resort to. Texas is known for being especially tough on inmates and tends to punish inmates harshly and has one of the highest rates of incarceration in the country. An alternative to reduce the population is possibly reducing the minimum sentencing and mandatory time served guidelines. The no-tolerance for drug related crimes could also be fixed. I honestly do not agree with people receiving huge sentences for drug related charges. Of course I agree with punishment but sometimes I think the punishments are too extreme. This huge incarceration rate is doing nothing but costing tax payers more money. These are some very important things that politicians leave out about the death penalty.

Another excellent point that Lauren made was the fact that, “there is no hope in death, no turning back, no room for mistakes. And as a people who are defined by continually making mistake after mistake, I cannot believe I would ever be certain enough in my own decision, much less someone else’s to take such a permanent action.” This procedure is mainly used for retribution and to make the victim’s families and friends feel better but at the same time there is a fine line between those who receive the death penalty and those who receive life in prison. That line is blurred. However, there have been people who were convicted with the death penalty, executed, and then later found to be innocent. Texas has such a huge rate of people receiving the death penalty, how many of those people were and are innocent? I can understand there are horrible crimes and everyone wants a person to pay for it but there needs to be absolute proof, no questions, and a solid, solid case in order to support the death penalty and actually execute someone.

The death penalty is harming the tax payers and the innocents. Even after the person is executed, depression and devastation still live on in the families who lost the loved ones. So who really is paying for the death penalty? To me, it seems like politicians, prosecutors, presidents, people etc. are choosing the death penalty for symbolic reasons and positions on toughness rather than substance and effectiveness.  Our criminal justice system definitely needs work.