Crane 1

Taylor Crane

Professor Parry

English 2010

October 20, 2021

Capital Punishment: The Good, The Bad

In the United States, Criminal Justice System there exists the death penalty, or also

known as capital punishment. Capital punishment is one of the most controversial topics in the

criminal justice system and the united states as a whole. The death penalty was established in

1976 and ever since its introduction to the criminal justice system, there have been numerous

debates on whether or not it is cruel and unusual punishment, moral, and should be abolished

altogether. In 2021 there are still 23 states who are against the death penalty and 27 states who

allow the death penalty. Some of the main controversies surrounding the death penalty include, Is

the likelihood of someone getting executed on death row affected by their ethnicity or other

cultural biases? Are executions from capital punishment moral, is it ethical, and should it

continue to be used in the United States? Is the death penalty an effective form of punishment

against criminals who have committed serious enough crimes? Capital punishment and its

overall effectiveness is a controversial topic on its own, and there are even more controversies

that correspond with it, the cost is a huge turn-off for a lot of people in the United States.

Numerous ethical and racial controversies thicken the plot even more, but capital punishment

remains in the criminal justice system for a reason, it works, but it is not perfect.

There are numerous reasons for capital punishment in the criminal justice system. One of

the main purposes is to deter criminals from committing crimes, serious defined as “the worst of
 Crane 2

the worst” is usually the number one reason why an inmate has the potential to get put on death

row and given capital punishment. There are a lot of ways to punish someone for committing a

serious crime, these forms of punishment include but are not limited to, large fines, serving

prison sentences, and getting put into supermax prisons, prisons for the worst crimes, and repeat

offenders. The largest supermax prison is located in Freemont County Colorado. It holds only

336 of the worst inmates in the country yet, has never reached its full capacity of 490 inmates.

Time spent in prison is the most common way to punish a criminal but capital punishment takes

that idea a step further and in a new direction. Nothing scares a human being more than knowing

every day you spend on dearth row might be your last day on earth. Fear is a big part of what

makes capital punishment so effective at deterring criminals from committing such crimes that

could land them in that situation.

“In 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that capital punishment is constitutional and,

since that ruling, most of the death penalty cases have pertained to execution of those convicted

of committing murder. The penalty of death is the most important catalyst to limiting the

imitation of the worst kinds of crimes — principally, murder. According to Procon, “the death

penalty is an important tool for preserving law and order, deters crime, and costs less than life

imprisonment.” However, beyond merely lessening the numerical burden on taxpayers,

maintaining not just the idea of justice but to actualizing it through a penalty system is perhaps

the greatest equalizer of those who are willing to push all standards of morality and ethics

through their behavior and blatant disregard for their fellow mankind” (Armstrong, The Hill,

2021) The importance of capital punishment is the criminal justice system is unparalleled to any

other form of deterrence, punishment and everything in between. Most people in the united states

associate the death penalty as a bad thing but in all reality, it is doing much more good than it is
 Crane 3

bad. It is keeping convicted criminals away from the innocent public and deterring them from

committing further crimes, it also deters other criminals from making the same mistake as an

inmate who is on death row or being charged with capital punishment. The chargers of capital

punishment can make even the most criminally charged individual quiver in their boots. Capital

punishment is a vital asset in keeping the united states safe and it will remain that way for the

foreseeable future.

While the death penalty has been controversial ever since it was established there is no

doubt that is effective as does has its extreme ways of punishing criminals guilty of the worst

crimes and is also effective in deterring other criminals from going down the same road. There

are so many positives to the death penalty but there are also some serious cons and downsides to

it as well.

There is no question that capital punishment costs a lot of money, there are millions and

millions of dollars spent by taxpayers of the United States that go into not only prisons and

incarcerating inmates but the criminal justice system as a whole. As of July 2020, there are over

159,000 federal inmates in the prison system. Each Inmate costs about 99 dollars a day. The cost

of those 159,000 inmates just in federal prison per year is over 5.8 Billion. That does not include

the cost of inmates in state prison systems, older inmates, or inmates in solitary confinement.

(Spengler 2020) About one in 100 people are in jail, prison, or death row. With the prison system

costing so much money you would think capital punishment would save some money, however;

that is not the case.

Maryland has the cost of capital punishment as roughly 42 percent more expensive when

compared to a case ending a punishment with something that is not the death penalty. In 1988

Kansas voted against bringing back the death penalty after people found it would cost more than
 Crane 4

11 million. Meanwhile, Florida has estimated that the total expenses of each execution are over

3 million, or about six times the cost of a prison sentence of ‘life without parole. The cost of

capital punishment is one of the reasons almost 45% of the United States does not allow it.

Limiting the death penalty is another solution to the death penalty controversy. The death

penalty is thought to not be ethical, this article helps get that idea out of people’s heads by

limiting the death penalty and not allowing individuals such as juveniles and people with a

history of mental illness to be exempt from being charged with capital punishment and sentenced

to death row. “In 1986, the Supreme Court banned the execution of insane persons and required

an adversarial process for determining mental competency in Ford v. Wainwright (477 U.S. 399).

In Penry v. Lynaugh (492 U.S. 584 (1989)), the Court held that executing persons with “mental

retardation” was not a violation of the Eighth Amendment. However, in 2002 in Atkins v.

Virginia, (536 U.S. 304), the Court held that a national consensus had evolved against the

execution of the “mentally retarded” and concluded that such a punishment violates the Eighth

Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.” This leads us to the Roper v. Simmons

case of 2007. “On January 27, 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to review whether

executing sixteen and seventeen-year-olds violates the Constitution's ban on 'cruel and unusual

punishment.' The review comes after the Missouri Supreme Court overturned the death sentence

of17-year-old Christopher Simmons. Roper v. Simmons will be reviewed by the justices this fall,

four of whom have called the juvenile death penalty 'inconsistent with evolving standards of

decency in a civilized society.” (ACLU) Because of this, there is a minimum age on which a

juvenile needs to be to be charged with capital punishment and sent to death row. If someone is

under the age of 16 they are not allowed to be charged with the death penalty, despite the severity
 Crane 5

of the crime. If an individual is at least 16 and commits a serious enough crime they are then

allowed to be sentenced to death row.

Capital Punishment is an effective way to punish and deter criminals but it is also very

expensive so what would be the best-case scenario is still deterring future crimes but also being

cost-effective? Keeping the death penalty but only using it when necessary and as a last resort

would be an effective way to keep it and also make it a little more cost-effective. As we know,

the cost of capital punishment is very expensive, which is a con but what happens if a criminal

charged with murder beats his sentence and is released back into the world full of potential future

victims? That would almost ruin the whole point of keeping them away from society in the first

place. I believe the death penalty should stay in the criminal justice system because despite being

very expensive it does its job and it works at deterring crime and overall it works. I do not think

risking innocent people’s lives over money is worth it. Looking at it from my perspective I see

capital punishment as “eye for an eye” If you take someone’s life, who is innocent and has never

done any crime in their life, then you do not deserve to live. If you take a life, yours gets taken in

return. This is not the most ethical nor moral way of looking at it but I think this could be an

effective way of using the death penalty, if the crime is serious enough then it should be used.
 Crane 6

Work Cited

ACLU. “Stop Killing Kids: Why It's Time to End the Indecent Practice of the Juvenile Death

Penalty.” American Civil Liberties Union,

https://www.aclu.org/other/stop-killing-kids-why-its-time-end-indecent-practice-juvenile-

death-penalty.

ACLU. “Juveniles and the Death Penalty.” American Civil Liberties Union,

https://www.aclu.org/other/juveniles-and-death-penalty

Armstrong, Williams. “The Death Penalty Remains the Strongest Deterrent to Violent Crime.”

TheHill, The Hill, 25 May 2021

https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/555027-the-death-penalty-remains-the-strong

est-deterrent-to-violent-crime?rl=1.

Ehrenfreund, Max. “There's Still No Evidence That Executions Deter Criminals.” The

Washington Post, WP Company, 26 Apr. 2019,

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/04/30/theres-still-no-evidence-tha

t-executions-deter-criminals/.

Spengler, Teo. “How Much Do Prisons Cost Taxpayers?” GOBankingRates, GOBankingRates, 9

July 2020,

https://www.gobankingrates.com/taxes/filing/wont-believe-much-prison-inmates-costing-

year/.

.
Crane 7