The Death Penalty 1

The Death Penalty

Kennedy Van Komen

CJ 1010

Zierse

May 4th, 2021

The Death Penalty 2

Abstract

This paper is going to discuss the topic of the death penalty. It will explain both

for and against the abolishment of the death penalty, as well as the pros and cons for

each side. Evidence and statistics will be provided throughout the paper gathered from

several different scholarly sources and articles. It will discuss topics varying from costs

for the death penalty, unjust criminal trials, protecting the public from crimianls, and

bringing closure to suffering families. Overall, it will inform you about the many differing

opinions surrounding the topic of the death penalty and its consequences.
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Introduction

The death penalty has long been a controversial issue in our criminal justice

system for centuries, and is still dependable of the situation at hand, along with the

location. Between the years of 1953 and 2015, the number of inmates under the

sentence of death in the United States grew from fewer than 500 to slightly less than

3,000. The numbers then skyrocketed during the 1980s and 1990s before leveling off

around the dawn of the 21st century and then declining (GALE, 2016). So the question

we ask is “ Should the death penalty be abolished all together, or stay as a punishment

for specific and deserving crimes? '' Ending someone’s life is an irreversible

consequence, so how do we decide which of those are “ deserving crimes” ? And how

do we decide if someone is truly guilty of a crime that writes them a death sentence?

Abolishing the Death Penalty

All throughout the years, our government and justice systems have made

mistakes with convicting people of crimes, and that’s one good reason why people think

getting rid of the death penalty is a good idea. If fact, according to the article “ The

Conservative Case Against the Death Penalty”, around 160 individuals have been

wrongly convicted, sentenced to die, and ultimately freed from prison since 1973. That

equates to roughly one erroneous conviction and release for every nine executions

(Rizer, 2019). This means that people are being threatened with death even when they

may have never done anything wrong. The article also provides an example story

involving this issue about a man that served in the military, who had never previously

committed a crime. He was accused of murdering a woman at a nearby bar shortly after
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his service, even with hardly any evidence. There were supposed nash marks on the

victims side that matched the DNA of the man's mouth, which was enough to give him

the name “snaggletooth killer”. He was determined to be put to death soon after. It took

10 years until the man was finally proven innocent in the courts. It is sad to say that

something like this wasn’t the first and last time someone was going to have to live

through such a strenuous and life-threatening trial.

In the article titled “ The case against the Death Penalty”, the ACLU says that the

death penalty is an unjust and unfair manner against people. It says that it largely

depends on how much money the suspect has, the skills of the attorneys involved, and

where the crime took place. It goes on to say that the death penalty is a waste of

taxpayer funds and that states with the death penalty have the highest murder rates

(Bedau, 1973). Another thing to consider is the cost of keeping the death penalty. Ron

Briggs, who was the former District IV Supervisor of El Dorado County in California says

that California taxpayers have unknowingly spent more than $5 billion to maintain a

death row that now houses 747 convicted criminals. During this time, only 13 people

have been put to death, at an eye-popping price tag of $384 million per execution

(Briggs, 2019). These are some main reasons that may convince people that the death

penalty is not necessary as a part of our Justice System.

Coming Back Strong with the Death Penalty

In contrast to these opinions, there are also many valid reasons why the death

penalty needs to stay. It is important to have capital punishment for people that commit

horrendous crimes where other punishments are simpy insufficiant, inlcluding a life

behind bars. Capital punishment is the ultimate punishment—death—administered by

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the government for the commission of serious crimes. The word capital comes from the

Latin word capitalis, meaning “of the head” (Gale, 2016). Our government system in the

United States is based on the separation of federal and state powers, so individual

states decide for themselves if they want to practice capital punishment.

It is important to consider that many victims of these horrific crimes want justice

served to their murderer. The death penalty allows people to close their open wounds

when the person that put them thorugh so much heartache is not around anymore. In

some cases, murder cases are pushed aside and their sentencing times are lowered or

cleared. Or the worst case scenario happens when the person who committed the crime

is released back into the streets with a possible parole officer. The Los Angeles Airport

Peace Officers Association says that giving up on the death penalty would mean giving

up on justice for crime victims and their families. The prisoners that are 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. Thus being said, having a functional death penalty law will help us protect the

public from society’s worst criminals and bring some measure of closure to the familly.

An example of a crime like this could be the Oklahoma City bombing performed by a

man named Timothy Mcveigh who killed 168 people in the act. Timothy was executed

for his crime, and that fact did not trouble most people. Kent Scheidegger, a Legal

Director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, says that the death penalty is great

because it absolutely guarentees that the killer will never kill again. A life sentence does

not. She further explains that there are many cases of people killed by murderers who

were paroled, escaped, killed within prison, or who arranged murders from within the
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prison (Scheidegger, 2008). Therefore, keeping the death penalty in place confirms that

there will be no further crimes committed by the person.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are many varying opinions concerning the death penalty and

its nature. Different people have different views on the subject depending on their life

experiences and values.

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Sources

Against Death Penalty Sources:

Bedau, H. A. (1973). The Case Against the Death Penalty.

https://www.aclu.org/other/case-against-death-penalty

King, R. (2003). Don't Kill in Our Names. Rutgers University Press.

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Wzs8MQjvih0C&oi=fnd&pg=PP13&dq=a
gainst+the+death+penalty&ots=Idyt3It60j&sig=G3fd8LLmbPTGW4QCIq80B_hwFQU#v=
onepage&q&f=false

Oregonians For Alternatives To The Death Penalty. (n.d.). The Facts: 13 Reasons to Oppose
the Death Penalty. https://oadp.org/facts/13-reasons

Rizer, A. (2019, January). The Conservative Case Against the Death Penalty.
https://www.rstreet.org/2019/01/09/the-conservative-case-against-the-death-penalty/

For Death Penalty Sources:

DANDo", S. (1996). Toward the Abolition of the Death Penalty. Indiana Law Journal.
https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1810&context=ilj

GALE. (2016). A Continuing Conflict: A History of Capital Punishment in the United States.
gale.com. https://www.gale.com/open-access/death-penalty

Procon.org. (2019, March). Should the Death Penalty Be Allowed? procon.org.

https://deathpenalty.procon.org/questions/should-the-death-penalty-be-allowed/

Stimson, C. (2019, December). The Death Penalty Is Appropriate. heritage.org.

https://www.heritage.org/crime-and-justice/commentary/the-death-penalty-appropriate

Eportfolio:
https://kennedyvankomen.weebly.com/
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Assignment Reflection

This assignment has made me realize that there are many differing opinions

about our criminal justice system and the death penalty. I assumed that most people

wanted to keep the death penalty, but I found that there are many articles talking about

the negatives of the death penalty. I think that that assumption is valid because it is not

a heavily pronounced topic on social media. It has been a hot topic a few times

throughout the last century, but there has never been a final decision or conclusion on

the matter. After doing this research essay, I have found that through many facts and

data, it makes sense that there are varying opinions, with both pros and cons for both

sides. This assignment has changed my perspective because I have learned that the

death penalty costs a lot of money and can be unjust, but it other ways, it allows closure

for families and stops killers from more killing.