The Deterrence Factors of Capital Punishment, Research Paper Example

Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is one of the most highly debated issues in the United States.  A survey was performed by Ellsworth and Ross that showed that roughly 58.8% of people in the United States are in favor of the death penalty and only 10.4% are undecided (p. 116).  This study shows that while many individuals may argue against the death penalty, it is still highly favorable by many Americans today as a choice for strict penalty.  Despite this being the case, there are a number of issues with the death penalty that have made it very difficult to continue to use.  Just a few of these issues include extremely high costs for executing the death penalty; race is a very strong factor in deciding the use of capital punishment; individuals no longer have the right to appeal once they are put to death, so an innocent person can be unjustly put to death; and many of our international allies are not in favor of using the death penalty as a form of punishment for criminals.  Only a few legislative movements have been taken to try to resolve these issues, and it is still very evident that capital punishment may indeed have its purpose in today’s society.

The overwhelming costs of capital punishment are a very strong economic argument against using this form of punishment for criminals.  In a 2008 report written by the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, the total costs of providing penal services to inmates that are on death row average around $90,000 per minute (“Costs of the Death Penalty”).  The same study reported that this would add up to total costs of over $137 million every year under the current death penalty system.  In a time of tough economic strains on federal and state budgets, it is clear that the means of these costs may not truly be worth the results they would produce.  Furthermore, the same 2008 report stated that “the cost of a system which imposes a maximum penalty of lifetime incarceration instead of the death penalty would be $11.5 million per year” (“Costs of the Death Penalty”).  However, proponents of the death penalty argue that the costs of the death penalty are necessary costs to allow for society to be free of murderers and rapists, and there should be no price value placed on this kind of safety.  It is hard to argue that most citizens would not want their friends and family free of harm from these criminals.  It is not hard to argue, however, that the reduction in total costs of the government, and ultimately the citizens’ own tax dollars, will be over $100 million – and this is money that could be spent on something much more useful, while the criminals spend a lifelong term in prison.

Along with the millions of dollars in additional costs to the government every year, a second major issue with capital punishment is the lopsided statistics with regards to race in this country.  Statistics show that African Americans and Whites are victims of murder in nearly equal numbers; however, 80% of criminals that have been executed were executed for murders against white victims, and over 20% of African American defendants that have been executed were originally convicted by juries that were all-white (“Race and the Death Penalty”). These two startling statistics have led many people to question where the capital punishment system is an equal system.  It can be argued that the officials in charge of convicting the criminal and carrying out the executing are more interested in the color of the criminal rather than the crime itself. This is a major concern for opponent of capital punishment, especially those that believe that capital punishment is against many religious beliefs and morals.  However, focusing on the concerns of race and making legislative bills to solve these problems would be similar to calling the system an equal-opportunity death system.  Providing any governmental support in favor of killing all criminals equally, regardless of race would be a public relations nightmare and the general public would not be very favorable.  Still, the concern lies in the minority communities that argue that the system is racially biased and African Americans are likely to be tried and put to death quicker than their white counterparts, especially if they have killed a white victim.  This argument stems from a number of social problems in the United States that are very separate issues and cannot be analyzed here.

The third major issue relating to capital punishment is the argument that individuals on death row do not have the same rights to appeal as other criminals, and there is a major case that individuals who have been executed may have actually been innocent.  Since 1973, at least 135 people have been released from prison once they were on death row (NCADP).  These are very strong numbers that indicate that the system may have wrongly convicted criminals on death row and that the system should not be so quick to convict or punish individuals on trial for such heinous crimes. In addition to the above statistic it has been “reported that four executed inmates in all probability were innocent. They are Ruben Cantu of Texas, Carlos De Luna of Texas, Larry Griffin of Missouri, and Cameron Todd Willingham of Texas” (NCADP).  The evidence is very strong that these individuals were likely innocent of their convictions but were victims of capital punishment nevertheless.  Arguments against the accuracy of the criminal justice system make it very difficult to support claims against capital punishment because the opponents are arguing against the accuracy of the entire system, not just a part of it.  These claims appear as though there is a problem with the entire system, and individuals do not like to feel as though their government cannot properly convict criminals and keep society safe from these individuals.  Despite there being a very strong case, at least for cases of capital punishment, for the conviction and execution of innocent people, government officials and citizens and typically very satisfied with the system as it is.

Finally, the fourth major concern with relationship to capital punishment is the international opinion of the United States allies against the death penalty.  Amidst an era of our history where we need our allies more than ever for economic concerns and international warfare, the allies of the American government have been making very strong efforts to abolish the death penalty across the globe.  The European Union argued that the “abolition of the death penalty contributes to the enhancement of human dignity and to the progressive development of human rights” and that it is “concerned that several countries, in imposing the death penalty, do not take into account the Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty” (“United Nations”).  If the allies of the United States are clearly not in favor of the death penalty and still no movement has been made to truly abolish the death penalty in this country, then it is clear that our international allies may not always support this country.  While opponents of the death penalty can make this argument, the economic support that the U.S. receives internationally as well as the military support in the Middle East, very few proponents of capital punishment believe this to be a true threat.  Capital punishment is not high on the list of international issues that could potentially lead to a country ending its international support, in any form, with the United States.

To date, very little legislation has been passed to attempt to change the way the capital punishment system operates.  There have been very substantial cases in the U.S. Supreme Court that have changed the way the death penalty is viewed and utilized in several different areas of the country.  A Supreme Court ruling in the 2008 case of Kennedy v. Louisiana stated that the death penalty is unconstitutional for the crime of child rape.  The Supreme Court was quoted in the final ruling by stating that the criminal justice system must provide a full and complete process and by doing so it will cast a mature judgment that will demand that “the [death] penalty must be reserved for the worst of crimes and limited in its instances of application” (“Kennedy v. Louisiana”). While this case provided a limitation on the application of the death penalty in the circumstance of child rape, many Governors are taking matters into their own hands.  According to ReligiousTolerance.com, “recent laws have expanded the number of crimes for which capital punishment can be applied. Other legislation has reduced some of the appeal mechanisms available to those on death row” (“Facts about capital punishment”).  Governor Brad Henry from Oklahoma recently signed a bill into law in 2006 that allowed for the death penalty to be used for repeat child molesters and stated that anyone “convicted for a second time of rape, forcible sodomy, lewd molestation or rape by instrumentation of a child under 14 years of age is now eligible for execution” (“Facts about capital punishment”).  This shows that there is legal evidence on both sides of the issue that are for and against the issue of Capital Punishment.  It is very clear that individuals are more in favor of using capital punishment where the criminal has been convicted for multiple offenses or extremely heinous crimes.

The proposed resolutions in the United Nations, the U.S. Supreme Court and bills passed by state governors are all legal acts that are attempting to promote or demote the usage of capital punishment.  I believe that the issues supporting capital punishment are much more important than those against it.  The death penalty is a punishment that must be used to keep society safe from repeat offenders and individuals that have committed very serious offenses such as rape and murder.  The issues against death penalty are fairly trivial except for the argument of increased costs.  I do believe that the increased costs of the death penalty need to be addressed in order to help solve some of the country and individual states’ budget problems during this time of recession.  Perhaps the focus of this argument should not be spent on abolishing the death penalty or arguing over moral or religious beliefs, but instead the focus should be on perfecting the legal system where these convictions are being made.  Innocent people should not be convicted, despite anyone’s racial, sexual, or religious biases towards individuals on trial.  The process is what the country needs to ensure the safety of all persons, including criminals on trial.  An improper or inefficient system that convicts innocent people needs to have steps taken to address the problems and solve them as quickly as possible.  However, the use of capital punishment is a very important tool to help secure the safety of the citizens of this country and any other country that uses the death penalty.

Works Cited

“Costs of the Death Penalty.” Death Penalty Information Center. Web. 08 Oct. 2009. <http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/costs-death-penalty>.

“Facts about capital punishment – the death penalty.” ReligiousTolerance.org by the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. 27 Feb. 2009. Web. 07 Oct. 2009. <http://www.religioustolerance.org/execut3.htm>.

“Innocence.” NCADP – The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Web. 07 Oct. 2009. <http://www.ncadp.org/index.cfm?content=20>.

“Kennedy V. Louisiana.” Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School. Cornell University Law School. Web. 08 Oct. 2009. <http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-343.ZO.html>.

“Problems with capital punishment.” Problems with capital punishment. Web. 06 Oct. 2009. <http://www.justiceblind.com/death/dpproblems.html>.

“United Nations Commission on Human Rights, 56th Session, Resolution on the DeathPenalty, Sponsored by the European Union, April 2000.” European Union – Delegation of the European Commission to the USA – Home. European Union, 26 Apr. 2000. Web. 07 Oct. 2009.

“Race and the Death Penalty.” Death Penalty Information Center. Web. 06 Oct. 2009. <http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/race-and-death-penalty>.