Death Penalty/Capital Punishment

1. A VIEW FROM AN ETHICAL STANDPOINT
   
1. The ethics of CP are not just questionable, but are completely violating natural human ethics. Society will not benefit nor take into account any form of profit. As a Santa Clara University paper stated: “The taking of human life is permissible only if it is a necessary condition to achieving the greatest balance of good over evil for everyone involved.” Not only is CP not achieving the greatest balance for the inmate, it is not achieving the greatest balance for the victim’s loved ones either. It will not bring the victim back, it will only serve as a method of revenge. Hatred is what CP symbolizes. The satisfaction of killing someone as revenge will not last long. The effect of it will. Killing someone puts a dent on someone’s live, killing someone will leave a lasting impression of sadness, anger, and most importantly emptiness in someone. Not only to mention the victim’s loved ones but the inmate's loved ones. They will have to pay, not in money, but in memories, feelings, and years of time spent together. They will have to pay in love. They will never ever get to feel the reason why they loved the inmate again. Why should the family of the inmate pay for something the inmate did? Even if the inmate committed a wrongdoing of ending someone else’s life, nothing should result in his/her’s death. It harms two sides of the courthouse to an extent that should never be allowed. Or as famed ethicist Mahatma Gandhi put it “An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind”.
   
2. COST
   
1. Now onto the statistics of CP. The costs of CP are eye-watering. In Maryland, a single death penalty case will set you back a whopping 3 million dollars. . Which is over 3 times as much as a life imprisonment case. Pennsylvania alone has spent $350 million on the death penalty. This money could be easily forwarded to the often overlooked historical monuments in Philadelphia. Most people who commit murder are also of the poor community. They cannot afford an attorney, so the state or country has to pay for one. It is also extremely hard to find impartial juries that have no bias to the death penalty whatsoever. The guards also have to serve 23 hours a day in a special solitary confinement cell which costs extra. This results in unnecessary costs that could be reduced drastically with a switch to life imprisonment. (https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/costs). 
   
3. EFFECTIVENESS OF CP
   
1. Despite it being commonly referred to as a very effective, that is a complete utter and blatant lie. According to a recent study done by the ACLU states that “No, there is no credible evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than long terms of imprisonment. States that have death penalty laws do not have lower crime rates or murder rates than states without such laws. And states that have abolished capital punishment show no significant changes in either crime or murder rates.” This proves that the death penalty is the same or less effective than life imprisonment. But, as proved before, the death penalty has a lot more cons than pros. So, let me ask PRO, why would you use something so torturous, so evil in place of something better? Life imprisonment is obviously the better choice.
   
4. PAIN OF EXECUTION
   
1. Executions, even if they’re not botched, are never painless. Many people mistake the process of being executed to be quick, but this is not the case. Many patients might be on death row for years. Jack Alderman was awaiting his death for 33 years. Knowing that you are going to die by the hands of the government is certainly cruel and unusual for the mental health of the inmate. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_row) . But, if the execution is botched, the inmate feels a lot of pain. This is the case with Angel Diaz, who’s execution took a whopping 34 minutes (it usually takes less than half that time). “During the execution, Diaz appeared to be in pain and gasped for air for more than 11 minutes. He was given a rare second dose of lethal chemicals after the execution team observed that the first round did not kill him. A medical examiner reported the second dose was needed because the needles were incorrectly inserted through his veins and into the flesh in his arms. Not only did Diaz die a slow and excruciating death because the drugs were not delivered into his veins properly, his autopsy revealed that he suffered 12 inch chemical burns in his arms by the highly concentrated drugs flowing under his skin.” (https://www.aclu.org/other/death-penalty-questions-and-answers) Botched executions are terrible for the medical examiners and the inmates to feel. Why risk it when there are several less harsh, but more rehabilitating options?
   
5. DEATH ROW PHENOMENON
   
1. As stated in IV, being placed on death row has harsh psychological effects on a human. If their sentence is changed, then it can affect a person permanently. This is known as the “death row phenomenon.” “This bleak isolation and years of torturous uncertainty can result in a sharp deterioration in a prisoner’s mental and physical state, often making inmates suicidal. Many have attempted suicide in the weeks and days leading up to their executions, only to be ‘saved’ and brought back to prison so their sentence can be carried out by the authorities” (https://reprieve.org.uk/death-row-phenomenon-psychological-impact-shadow-execution/). Basically, people can suffer serious mental damage on death row, sometimes even resulting in suicide.
   
6. DEATH ROW CONDITIONS
   
1. It’s not only because of the time spent in the cells that prisoners go mad. It’s the conditions of the cells. As I stated before, prisoners are kept in their cells for as long as 23 hours sometimes. They aren’t educated or spoken to. Visits from the outside world are rare and usually restricted. It’s basically solitary confinement, and I can hope that we both agree that is cruel and unusual. (https://reprieve.org.uk/death-row-phenomenon-psychological-impact-shadow-execution/) 
   
7. POLLS.
   
1. A poll of more than 1500 registered voters came up with a conclusion that 61% of people thought that death penalties should be replaced with alternatives such as life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, life imprisonment with the possibility of parole, or life imprisonment without parole and restitution for the victim’s family. Many people thought that more money should be contributed to other government departments such as emergency services, and public-health. (https://www.amnestyusa.org/most-voters-prefer-alternatives-to-the-death-penalty/) 
   
8. CONCLUSION
   
1. The Death Penalty ought to be banned because of the many imperfections of the conditions of the cells, the families of the victim and crime commiter, the psychological effects on the prisoner, and the pain that is inflicted on a prisoner during an execution. The death penalty is not what the people want, and is not what the people need.
   

“Claimed 'cost studies,' often performed by or at the behest of death penalty opponents, are frequently so incomplete as to be false and misleading. For example, they don't take into account the increase in the cost of life without parole cases if there were no death penalty. Criminal defendants who are facing the death penalty — which today must be pleaded by prosecutors up front — often want to make a deal by pleading guilty to first degree murder in exchange for a sentencing recommendation of life without parole. The existence of the death penalty as a possible sentence leads to guilty pleas that save the money spent on trials and limit the opportunity for appeals." (2) 

back in July, “six homicides were allegedly committed by five Pennsylvania parolees over two months, including the slayings of two children and a Pittsburgh police officer.” 

“Last year, 6,526 people under parole supervision were arrested, or almost 16% of the more than 41,000 total, according to Department of Corrections data.”

This included 93 for murder. 

As it stands nationwide, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics in May 2018, from 2005 onward an estimated 68% of released prisoners were arrested within 3 years, 79% within 6 years, and 83% within 9 years.

“At the end of the 9-year follow-up period, 79% of prisoners released for a violent offense had been arrested for any type of crime. Prisoners released for a violent offense were more likely to have been arrested for a violent offense.”

“They say it's not a deterrent. Well, you know what, maybe it's not a deterrent but these two [men convicted of killing two police officers in Hattiesburg, MS] will not do any more killing. That's for sure."

“Our research shows that each execution carried out is correlated with about 74 fewer murders the following year.” (5)

“Each execution results, on average, in eighteen fewer murders with a margin of error of plus or minus ten. “(6)

“We find a significant relationship among the execution, removal, and commutation rates and the rate of homicide. Each additional execution decreases homicides by about five, and each additional commutation increases homicides by the same amount, while one additional removal from death row generates one additional homicide.” (7)

“recent investigations, using a variety of samples and statistical methods, consistently demonstrate a strong link between executions and reduced murder rates... In short, capital punishment does, in fact, save lives.”

“Giving up on the death penalty would mean giving up on justice for crime victims and their families. The prisoners currently on California's death row have murdered more than 1,000 people. Of those, 229 were children, 43 were peace officers, and 294 of the victims were sexually assaulted and tortured.”

“Whatever your feelings are toward the death penalty, one thing most people will never know is the pain experienced when a family member, or in my case, family members are brutally tortured and murdered. In 1984, my mother, sister and two nephews were cold-heartedly shot to death by an 18-year-old gang member named Tiqueon Cox...Cox, while on death row, attempted a violent takeover of the Super Max Adjustment Center at San Quentin with a goal to kill as many guards as possible.”

1. Ethics:
   

1. Effectiveness