The Death Penalty

Paper Summary:

The paper argues that the United States should eliminate the death penalty for financial and moral purposes. The paper reveals that the costs associated with the death penalty are enormous and in most cases surpass those associated with non-death penalty cases. The paper further contends that the death penalty is meted out unjustly to the poor, minorities and the disabled population. The paper notes the chances of wrongful convictions and stresses how death is irreversible while life in prison is not.

From the Paper:

"The United States is one of the only wealthy industrialized nations in the world that still practices capital punishment. The subject of innumerable debates and central in America's political discourse, the death penalty seems like a cruel and outdated method of punishment. In a judicial system that claims to be transparent, unbiased, and egalitarian, the death penalty stands out like a gross anomaly. The death penalty is not practiced in all 50 states but in some like Texas and Florida it is executed with relative frequency. Beyond the ethical issues that surround capital punishment, research suggests that the death penalty is not feasible financially and may even cost more than keeping that individual behind bars for life. Moreover, statistical analysis reveals a disturbing trend on death row: the majority of death row convicts are non-white."

Sample of Sources Used:

• ACLU. "Race and the Death Penalty." 2003. Retrieved Feb 21, 2008 from http://www.aclu.org/capital/unequal/10389pub20030226.html
• Amnesty International. "Cost of the Death Penalty." Retrieved Feb 21, 2008 from http://www.amnestyusa.org/Fact_Sheets/Cost_of_the_Death_Penalty/page.do?id=1101084&n1=3&n2=28&n3=99
• Bonner, Raymond and Fessenden, Ford. "States With No Death Penalty Share Lower Homicide Rates." The New York Times. 22 Sept 2000. Retrieved Feb 21, 2008 from http://www.truthinjustice.org/922death.htm
• Death Penalty Focus. "Cost Studies." Retrieved Feb 21, 2008 from http://www.deathpenalty.org/index.php?pid=cost
• Death Penalty Information Center. "Costs of the Death Penalty." Retrieved Feb 21, 2008 from http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=108&scid=7

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