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Example Page For Apa Format 2
Example Page For Apa Format 2
Example Page For Apa Format 2
English 12 Period 3
Ms. Acosta
March 5, 2021
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Abstract
As Coretta Scott King once stated, “Justice is never advanced in the taking of
a human life.” Although some may say that the death penalty is a valid option for
incarcerated dangerous individuals. The death penalty is costly to society, because of the
amount it takes to imprison a person for tens of years, ultimately wasting taxpayer money.
Viewed as eye for an eye, capital punishment is actually eye for a torso. As well as there
a problem with America's fond obsession with imprisonment and the prison system. The
median cost of the death penalty is $1.26 million dollars. With the worst being California,
annually costing taxpayers $114 million worths of money according to NY times. Even
non-death penalties expand resources and money more than necessary. According to
Penalreform.org the cost for a death penalty case that results in a different sentance or
innocence, results in $750+ thousand dollars. This means that as of 2020, there are over
2,200 incarcerated with capital punishment according to the NAACP. As well as there being a
4.1 percentage of innocent cases, though this doesn’t include cases that were later given a
different sort of punishment. Which means almost $2 billion dollars will be poured on
incarcerated prisoners. Taking away benefits that could be given to more needed areas. Such as
Which brings up the question, if not capitol punishment, then what? Prisons are
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setting up a new type of prison, mental institutions such as psychiatric wards. According to the
reviews of mental hospitals in Las Vegas, such as Dessert Parkway, and Rawson-Neal. These
places have been credited for having care workers abusing patients and other violations.
According to TheChicagoSchool, it is shown that mental hospitals do exactly what they are
trying to fix. Amongst new numbers, it is shown that psychological trauma and diseases are
worsened by staying in hospitals as such. Meaning that the prison system is inept and unable to
set up a support system for mental health. An article written by ACLU argues that the death
sentence costs more, and delivers less. Which means that even life in prison is an adequate
sentence. Due to life in prison being up to 25 years, life in prison is way less harsh than it sounds
at first as well.
With this, this brings the question, why is it so important how much resources is poured
into capital punishment? Firstly, the death sentence has a known root of being used as
a tool against less fortunate people such as minority groups or families in poverty.
It is a well known fact that your court case can be held up entirely but a good team of lawyers,
though, not everyone has the commodity to afford lawyers, and even back then, some didn’t
even need lawyers to face the brutal reality of the US prison system. Joe Arridy is an example,
In 1936, Arridy was arrested for vagrancy. At the time, there was a murder of a 15 year old
girl under investigations. When authorities realized Arridy was neurologically atypical,
they decided to pin the murder on him. Due to his poverty, disabilities, and willingness to
cooperate with his own Grim reaper, he was wrongfully executed on January 6, 1936. As well as
population, they fill up 60% of prisoners on death row. The case of Arnold Ventures took place
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in 1944, when a young black teen who was 14 years old was a victim of a 10 minute jury
decision that led him to the electric chair. This shows that even in recent times, where most of
our grandparents were still alive. Racism is still systematic and shows itself in more than just
verbal harassment.
Some may believe that, because the Supreme Court deems executions to be
constitutional, it is right to do so. According to the 5th, and 14th amendment, it is quoted, “no
person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” We have to
point out that it says, without due process of law. Making it completely possible for someone to
be judged and given the death penalty. Now, there is a famous law prohibiting “cruel and unusual
punishment”, which is why the death penalty is addressed as painless and quick. As a result,
there has a been a fight to keep the death penalty, which is why a majority of the states do not
prohibit this. However, on June 29, 1972, during the complicated ruling of Furman v. Georgia
deemed capital punishment unconstitutional. A quote by Livermore states, “But are we in the
future to be prevented from inflicting these punishments because they are cruel? If a more lenient
mode of correcting vice and deterring others from the commission of it would be invented, it
would be very prudent in the Legislature to adopt it;” Admitting that, throughout the years of
reform we have had. There are new ways we can adopt, so why not move on, and stop repeating
the past.
Human life is precious, which is why it is fundamentally wrong to kill someone. If the
punishment for murder is murder, then we are stuck in a loop. These people are mentally wrong
to be brought to kill, rape, or torture someone. Since the human develops in his environment, we
need stronger education, better mental help, and new ways for these criminals to pay their debt of
life. Not only is it morally wrong, but it puts millions of dollars in a fire. Dollars stained in
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discrimination, minorities, poor families, victimized by this legal system. We have tools to
change this. Written letters, phone calls, a call to action for our representatives. We need to
allocate our resources onto more pressing matters, rather than living in the past.
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