Capital Punishment - Horrific Crimes

There have been 1226 executions taken place in the United States since 1976. Horrific crimes can be committed and for every one there is a punishment that fits the crime. Some crimes are so bad that the only punishment that can suffice for them is death. Capital punishment is the term used for when a criminal is sentenced to death. It is a punishment instrumented by the government for the severity of their crime. The death penalty has its many faults that render the whole process ineffective. The fact that we still use the death penalty is a little condescending to the ground that our society is based on. The assumption that the cost of the entire ordeal being cheaper than the alternative life in prison needs to be brought to attention. I question the effectiveness of the death penalty, how outdated it is , and the actual cost of the process to show how wrong it is for the American government to take a person’s human rights away and take their life.

An alternative sentence to the death penalty In the U.S. is the option of sentencing convicted murderers to life in prison without the possibility of parole. There are currently around 120 people in Oregon who have gotten life in prison without the possibility of parole. Scientific studies have failed to prove to the public that executions deter people from committing crimes. Around our country, states without the death penalty have a lower murder rate than neighboring states with the death penalty. Is it ever acceptable to take a human life? In Article 3 and 5 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights it says that “everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person” and that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” If you

sentence a person that has killed another person to death then you are just going on the murder’s level. It can also be seen as ineffective because some of these criminals welcome death as a gift and rather have that than life without parole. With that there brings the factor of people with mental disorders that are unfairly put on the same level and sentenced to death when the more compassionate decision of getting the impaired person the help they need is available. Many mentally ill defendants are unable to participate in their trials in any way that is helpful to their own case and their appearance can sway the jury by appearing unengaged, cold, and unremorseful .

While one might think that killing a prisoner would be less expensive than housing the same person for remainder of her or his life, exactly the opposite is true. The average cost of a death penalty case cost two point four million dollars with all of the court cases and appeals. The average cost is nearly eight times that of a murder case not seeking the death penalty. After a person is sentenced to death they first have their direct appeal; it’s an automatic appeal given to everyone that is sentenced to death. That appeal is overviewed by state’s highest court and a panel of judges is to decide if the sentence should be carried out as planned, reverse the conviction, or change the sentence to a different one. When that appeal is denied then the convicted can file a petition with the original judge that served on the trial to get