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death penalty was reinstated by the Supreme Court in 1976.
From 1984 through 2000, 661 people were executed.
Let's examine the economic and social aspects of capital
punishment and life in prison, and seek solutions to
victims' problems. |
Economic Impact
Executions are not cost-effective for taxpayers.
Executions cost much more than removing convicted persons from
society for the rest of their lives. A 1993 California study
concluded that each death penalty case costs at least $1.25 million
more than a regular murder case and a sentence of life without
possibility of parole.
Meaningful statistics are available from many
government agencies and private groups. These stats sometimes
conflict with each other and use different definitions. For
this example I have generalized data from many sources.
Some assumptions:
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Prisoner would live to age 65 in prison.
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It costs $60,000 per year to incarcerate
each prisoner.
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It costs $10,000,000 per execution with
appeals.
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A person locked up for life at age 33 costs society
$1,920,000 or $8,080,000 less than execution.
In 1999, there were almost 100 executions. The
average age at arrest was 28. If it took 10 years to exhaust appeals
$821,240,000 could have been saved by keeping them locked up.
Executions do not help heal victim's wounds nor do
they end their pain. Agony is prolonged during the long
process between conviction and execution. We should provide
money to families of murder victims for counseling and other
assistance instead of giving it to the legal system.
Governments have had to cut essential services to pay their
execution bill. We are needlessly penalizing ourselves!
See "Death $ Penalty"
Social Impact
 The
death penalty is a symptom, not a solution to our
culture of violence. We accept the philosophy of the murderer with
each execution. What good is retribution? Are we
confusing vengeance with justice?
Good social order requires that murderers must be
made unable to inflict more harm. For this reason, I propose that we
substitute a "life" penalty for the traditional
"death" penalty.
Life Penalty
The proposed life penalty consists of permanent
confinement alone in a secure cell with only necessities to
sustain life:
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Dignity
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Daylight
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Bed
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Blanket
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Food
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Sink
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Soap
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Towels
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Toilet
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Shorts
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Shirt
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Underwear
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The prisoner understands that if facilities are
damaged by him or her they are not repaired for one month.
Spiritual support could be available through an intercom. A
Bible, Quaran, Hindu Scripture, Book of Mormon and/or other are
provided. There is no other contact with the outside world,
including family and friends. An exception would be made if
new evidence exonerates the prisoner.
The prisoner would be removed from society and could
inflict no harm.
Deterrence and Presumed Guilt
Some claim that the death penalty is a
deterrent. It did not prevent the guilty now on death row from
committing their crimes. Who are we deterring? If we
think we are preventing people from committing murder we must
presume their guilt for future crimes and blame the condemned for
causing others to commit crimes that have not yet happened.
This is certainly not the American way.
The Solution
We must put our hard-earned tax dollars to the best
use and stop trying to get even. End the death penalty. Let's
save our money and our society.
That's my opinion - What's yours?
-- David Jackson
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