Assessing the Death Penalty

Paper Summary:

This paper argues against continuing the death penalty in the United States on the grounds that it is both economically and ethically unsound. It claims that, in the past, the death penalty was thought to be a low cost, fair, and effective way to handle the most severe offenders, however, as society has progressed this is no longer the case. The paper holds that continuing the death penalty will cost the criminal justice system much money, as well as its reputation. It also argues that the system has and will also continue to suffer because of wrongful convictions. To conclude, the paper suggests that alternatives to the death penalty need to be further researched, such as building more prisons. The paper recommends abolishing the death penalty once these alternatives are achieved.

From the Paper:

"One more question that must be considered is if the death penalty deters would be criminals. In the past as well as currently deterrence has not been a factor in support of the death penalty, if anything the death penalty has been shown not to be a deterrent to crime. The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting in 2004 showed that the south had the highest murder rate, and the northeast had the lowest murder rate. While during that same year the south performed over 80% of all executions and the northeast performed only 1% of all executions (Death penalty information center, 2006). If the death penalty were a deterrent to crime than these statistics would show the opposite of what they do, and if the goal of the Criminal Justice System is to deter crime in the future clearly the death penalty is not the option that is going to work."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Amnesty International. (2005). United States of America Failing the Future. Retrieved January 20, 2007, from http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGAMR510032000
• Death Penalty Information Center. (2006). The Issues. Retrieved January 20, 2007, from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org
• National Coalition to abolish the death penalty. (2006). Facts and Figures. Retrieved January 20, 2007 from http://www.ncadp.org
• Robinson, M. (2002). Justice Blind? Ideals and Realities of American Criminal Justice. [University of Phoenix Custom Edition e-text]. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Retrieved January 20, 2007, from University of Phoenix, rEsource, CJA/303.
• U.S Department of Justice. (2006). Capital Punishment. Retrieved January 20, 2007, from http://www.ojp.us.doj.gov/bjs.htm

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• Analytical Essay # 147038 : "Kant, Camus and the Death Penalty Debate"
• Persuasive Essay # 69553 : "Death Penalty"

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