By: Elizabeth Yoder

THE ISSUE atch?v=lC15kOoe4_s SHOULD THE DEATH PENALTY BE ENFORCED??

PROCON a 2006 study done by professors at Emory University found that each execution results in five fewer homicides. They also found that each execution deters an average of 18 murders. “There is no credible evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than long terms of imprisonment. States that have death penalty laws do not have lower crime rates or murder rates than states without such laws. And states that have abolished capital punishment show no significant changes in either crime or murder rates. The death penalty has no deterrent effect. Claims that each execution deters a certain number of murders have been thoroughly discredited by social science research.“ ~American Civil Liberties Union DETERRENCE

PROCON The reliability of DNA testing has been accurate in identifying suspects in criminal investigations. DNA has been very helpful in insuring that people are not wrongfully convicted. Prosecutors have called DNA testing certain in all but 1 out of 100 billion cases. Once an inmate is executed nothing can be done if a mistake is made. Since 1973, around 121 people have been released from death row after new evidence proved their innocence. Research shows that one out of every 8 people on death row had been wrongly convicted. These statistics show an intolerable risk of executing the innocent. IRRIVOCABLE MISTAKES

PROCON The death penalty is much more expensive than life without parole because the constitution has a long process for capital cases. The money saved could be used for education, public safety programs, etc. In Maryland death penalty cases cost 3 times as much as non- death penalty cases. The cost of death penalty cases cost around 3 million dollars for a single case. COST OF DEATH VS LIFE IN PRISON

PROCON The National Race Composition of those on death row is 45% white, 42% black, and 10% Latino/ Latina. While some studies show that race is strongly correlated with the death penalty no researcher has found that the death sentence is being imposed on defendants on account of their race, per se, independently of other variables (such as type of crime) which are correlated with defendants' race. In 2007, a study conducted by Yale University School of Law showed that African American defendants receive the death penalty at three times the rate of white defendants in cases where the victims are white. RACE

PROCON “…if you’re going to commit murder, you want to be white, and you want to be wealthy — so that you can hire a first-class lawyer — and you want to kill a black person. And if [you are], the odds of your being sentenced to death are basically zero…It’s one thing to say that rich people should be able to drive Ferraris and poor people should have to take the bus. It’s very different to say that rich people should get treated one way by the state’s criminal- justice system and poor people should get treated another way. But that is the system that we have.” ~David Dow “Punishments are imposed on persons, not on...economic groups. Guilt is personal. The only relevant question is: does the person to be executed deserve the punishment? Whether or not others who deserved the same punishment, whatever the economic or racial group, have avoided execution is irrelevant.“ ~ Ernest Van Den Haag INCOME LEVEL

PROCON "To enroll qualified correctional physicians in a national educational and scientific society which has been established to provide a repository of knowledge and expertise…” ~Correctional Physicians Website “…requiring physicians to participate in executions violates their oath to protect lives and erodes public confidence in the medical profession.” ~American Medical Association PHYSICIANS AT EXECUTION

"Top 10 Pros and Cons - Death Penalty - ProCon.org." Death Penalty ProCon.org. ProCon.org, 13 Apr Web. 04 May "Race and the Death Penalty | Capital Punishment in Context." Welcome to Capital Punishment in Context. Capital Punishment in Context, Web. 04 May WORKS CITED

"The Death Penalty." Deathpenaltycurriculum. Web. 4 May "Accuracy of DNA "Matches" to Definitively Identify Suspects Questioned." Death Penalty Information Center. Death Penalty Information Center, Web. 04 May "Death Penalty Cost." Amnestyusa Web. 4 Apr MORE WORK CITED…