Death Penalty Is It Worth It? By Oscar Flores

What is Capital Punishment? The Death Penalty or Capital Punishment is The death penalty is a form of punishment that involves executing a person after he or she has been found guilty of a crime by his or her legal system. Often referred to as capital punishment, executions carried out by a government or ruling monarchy date back as far as humans have been recording history. 1,188 people were executed in the US from 1977 through 2009, primarily by means of lethal injection. Types of capital punishments: – Lethal Injection – Electrocution (Electric Chair) – Gas Chamber – Hanging – Firing Squad Although, Lethal Injection is the primary method of execution.

What is the total cost of executions in California? California uses Lethal Injection as its sole method of execution. $250 million: Average cost of 11 executions in 27 years. $114 million: Costs of death penalty to taxpayers (annual). $34,150: Average annual cost of housing an inmate in state prison. $200: Cost of lethal injection chemicals $7.4 billion: budget for the California Corrections Department.

Cost of Life Imprisonment The cost of keeping am inmate in prison is Expenses of prisons: – $19,663 to provide security for inmates each year – $12,442 for health care. – $7,214 prison operations like record-keeping and maintenance. – $3,493 for administration – $2,562 to feed inmates, clothe them and provide activities for them including spiritual programs – $1,612 for rehabilitation programs and $116 in miscellaneous costs.

Imprisonment vs. Death Row According to statistics by the office of California's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst, the current annual cost for maintaining an inmate in a state prison is $47,102. Jonathan C. Holeman and Samuel C. Wright, were convicted of a crime and were put in prison: – if both were sentenced to life without parole and lived to the age of 65, the 34-year cost of housing, feeding and keeping them secure would amount to $1.598 million a piece. The second alternative: the death penalty will cost the economy and taxpayers a lot more. – it costs an additional $90,000 a year, including the cost of appeals, to house prisoners on death row than in the general inmate population. Expenses of prison sentence: – $1.94 billion--Pre-Trial and Trial Costs – $925 million--Automatic Appeals and State Habeas Corpus Petitions – $775 million--Federal Habeas Corpus Appeals – $1 billion--Costs of Incarceration

Continued… – Thus, about $1,600 might be reduced from the annual cost due to the fact that if they do not have parole then they will not be enrolled in rehabilitation programs. However, at an annual cost of $137,102, a prisoner who sits on death row for 20 years could cost taxpayers a total of $2,742,040 in that time. In California, a prisoner typically spends 20 years on death row before they become executed. Since, “the additional cost of confining an inmate is $90,000 per year per inmate. With California’s current death row population of 670, that accounts for $63.3 million annually.”

Increasing Rate of People Being Imprisoned More people being imprisoned which means there is more chances of people being on death row and costing lots of money to the US.

US Houses More Inmates than other Countries Since the US houses more inmates that any other place on Earth, this must mean that the US spends a lot more money than the other countries.

Getting rid of the Death penalty If death row were to be abolished it would benefit the US in so many ways. – Less money would be spent (more for the economy) – Less people would be killed – Less murders would be committed – It will bring extra money to the states without the death penalty, which can be used for state programs and research on investigation of crimes.

Cut costs “Every time a killer is sentenced to die, a school closes.” “The cost of killing killers is killing us.” The cost of the death penalty affect everyone. – jobs – Schools – State budgets Some argue about the statement an eye for an eye, a death for a death; in most cases people believe that if one commits a murder then the murder should die as well. However some don’t realize the high cost and budgets that must be used for more useful options.

Alternatives Cheaper alternatives or better ways to same money while still bringing justice to criminals. The best alternative – Life without the possibility of parole Cheaper than the death penalty Works efficiently to punish offenders and to protect society at a fraction of the cost serves the needs of victims' families better than the death penalty Cases are resolved faster and without lengthy appeals

What is the right choice? Death Penalty is slowly becoming abolished in states around the US and other countries as well; which is a good thing. The death penalty is too expensive and it a very long process with all the court cases and the trials, on the other hand life imprisonment is more cheaper and fast. Life In prison without parole is a better way to deal with criminals and get rid of them because it is cheaper; thus, it doesn’t affect the family of the victims and economy.

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