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Innumerable individuals on death row have been wrongfully convicted due to any number of reasons. The appeals of death row inmates sometimes never get heard. Those inmates who cannot afford to fight a good appeal are the worse off of all. Because DNA testing and more traditional forms of evidence can be used to reverse the death penalty, caution should be used when sentencing a citizen to death. Death is irreversible; life in prison is not. The families of the wrongfully convicted deserve such consideration.
Moreover, the death penalty is meted out unjustly to a greater number of poor, minority, and disabled population. Capital punishment reveals biases and flaws in the American judicial system. The death penalty is also extremely costly even though it would seem that killing a convict costs less than feeding one. Rather, data shows that the price of death penalty trials, the appeals to those trials, of keeping inmates on death row, and of the executions themselves is greater than it would be if the same individual were tried for life in prison without parole. The death penalty...
"Race and the Death Penalty." 2003. Retrieved Feb 21, 2008 at http://www.aclu.org/capital/unequal/10389pub20030226.html
Amnesty International. "Cost of the Death Penalty." Retrieved Feb 21, 2008 at 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 at http://www.truthinjustice.org/922death.htm
Death Penalty Focus. "Cost Studies." Retrieved Feb 21, 2008 at http://www.deathpenalty.org/index.php?pid=cost
Death Penalty Information Center. "Costs of the Death Penalty." Retrieved Feb 21, 2008 at http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=108&scid=7
Death Penalty Information Center. "The Federal Death Penalty." Death Penalty Information Center. 2008. Retrieved Feb 21, 2008 at http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=29&did=147
Goering, Laurie. "Florida Leads Nation in Wrongful Convictions among Death Row Inmates." Chicago Tribune. Feb 28, 2000. Retrieved Feb 21, 2008 at http://www.truthinjustice.org/fla-deathrow.htm
Robinson, Bruce a. "Capital Punishment: The Death Penalty." Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. 2006. Retrieved Feb 21, 2008 at http://www.religioustolerance.org/executb.htm
Works Cited
ACLU. "Race and the Death Penalty." 2003. Retrieved Feb 21, 2008 at http://www.aclu.org/capital/unequal/10389pub20030226.html
Amnesty International. "Cost of the Death Penalty." Retrieved Feb 21, 2008 at 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 at http://www.truthinjustice.org/922death.htm
Death Penalty Focus. "Cost Studies." Retrieved Feb 21, 2008 at http://www.deathpenalty.org/index.php?pid=cost
Death Penalty Information Center. "Costs of the Death Penalty." Retrieved Feb 21, 2008 at http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=108&scid=7
Death Penalty Information Center. "The Federal Death Penalty." Death Penalty Information Center. 2008. Retrieved Feb 21, 2008 at http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=29&did=147
Goering, Laurie. "Florida Leads Nation in Wrongful Convictions among Death Row Inmates." Chicago Tribune. Feb 28, 2000. Retrieved Feb 21, 2008 at http://www.truthinjustice.org/fla-deathrow.htm
Robinson, Bruce a. "Capital Punishment: The Death Penalty." Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. 2006. Retrieved Feb 21, 2008 at http://www.religioustolerance.org/executb.htm
death teach us about life? The concept of death teaches us a tremendous amount about life. First, our awareness of death teaches us that life is finite in duration. That may seem obvious, but it is not necessarily a perspective that we would appreciate without noticing that the lives of others are ended by death. After all, all we have ever known firsthand is living; if not for the fact
Studies consistently and generally show that, all factors held constant, the race of the accused is a critical variable in determining who will be sentenced to death. Black citizens are, thus, subjected to double discrimination. From initial charging decisions to plea bargaining to sentencing by the jury, Black defendants receive harsh treatment and, as victims, their lives are given less value than whites. Most juries still consist of all
The United States is one of the few industrialized, democratic nations in the world which still permits capital punishment on a state-by-state basis. Not all states have the death penalty but executions are still carried out in the United States and the punishment remains controversial. Despite the singularity of its status internationally, the death penalty has historically been a popular policy in the United States, even though it has been hotly
Capital Punishment Solitary confinement represents one among the best means of keeping modern-day prisoners from communication and conflict, but has the most injurious effects on their health. Individuals imprisoned in conditions of solitary confinement demonstrate more psychotic behavior compared to normal prisoners; this includes higher rate of suicides (Thesis Statement). After a prisoner loses his/her mental capacity of understanding the reason for his/her imprisonment or punishment, subjecting him/her to solitary confinement
However, on the contradicting side, the question is "Can death penalty really deter criminals?." Several studies show it does not. An online source indicates the following evidences. From 1976 to 1996, the number of executions per year in the United States has increased from 0 to just under 60. The homicide rate per 100,000 population has remained constant at just under 10. Criminologists who belong to the American Society of Criminology,
The victim is unable to make peace with himself, say goodbye to his family or have his constitutional rights seen too. When a murder is committed, I believe that the perpetrator does not forfeit his rights, but rather some of the respect and convention which is usually given to a dying person. After all, what respect and convention was awarded to his victim? Many of the states which currently allow