Not only does that solution clog the prison system with additional inmates, it adds tremendously to prison costs. Housing just one death row inmate for 20 years could cost over $600,000, and that does not include inflation and other rising cost factors. Thus, keeping inmates on death row simply adds to the taxpayer's costs and creates additional crowding in prisons that are already reaching the breaking point in inmate capacity.
Many studies also indicate that capital punishment is a strong deterrent in violent crimes. Two authors note, "A leading national study suggests that each execution prevents some eighteen murders, on average" (Sunstein, and Vermeule). Thus, the most heinous criminals are being punished for heinous murders and crimes. They are punished for their actions, but their executions also save other lives that might be taken if they returned to their streets. Opponents say these criminals would remain behind bars for the rest of their lives, but many studies show that even "lifers" are offered parole in some cases, which means eventually, the criminal could return to public life, even if convicted of a capital crime, and this could mean additional death and mayhem.
While opponents of the practice often sight moral and spiritual reasons not to take another human life, many proponents of capital punishment feel it is just as ethically and morally wrong not to take the life of a dangerous, habitual criminal who probably will offend again if given the opportunity. Authors Sunstein and Vermeule continue, "[T]he task is to consider the possibility that the failure to impose capital punishment is, prima facie and all things considered, a serious moral wrong" (Sunstein, and Vermeule). It is morally and ethically wrong to knowingly release a criminal who has committed a capital crime back into the public, and this could very well happen if the death penalty is abolished. History shows that some inmates can and do fall through the cracks of the prison system. The safety of the American public depends on a strong parents. If inmates such as Hinkley, who are considered mentally unstable, are not dealt with, violent crime could rise, and people like Hinkley could roam the streets once again.
Finally, it is interesting to note that while the controversy surrounding the death penalty swirls on, there are actually relatively few executions each year in the United States. The Bureau of Justice Statistics track executions and many other elements of capital punishment. They note, "In 2006, 53 inmates were executed, 7 fewer than in 2005" ("Capital Punishment Statistics"). One of the reasons for the relatively few numbers of actual executions results from the lengthy appeal process in the judicial system that costs taxpayers millions of dollars each year, and drags out the execution process for many years. This is another reason capital punishment must continue, and must be adapted into a quicker process. The appeal process is extremely costly, and streamlining the appeal process will create less court congestion and result in more justice for convicted criminals guilty of the most heinous crimes, such as murder.
References
Editors. "Capital Punishment Statistics." U.S. Department of Justice. 2007. 3 March 2007. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cp.htm
Editors. "Costs of Incarceration." U.S.Courts.gov. 2005. 3 March 2007. http://www.uscourts.gov/ttb/may05ttb/incarceration-costs/index.html
Haines, Herbert H. Against Capital Punishment: The Anti-Death Penalty Movement in America, 1972-1994. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Sunstein, Cass R., and Adrian Vermeule. "Is Capital Punishment Morally Required? Acts, Omissions and Life-Life Tradeoffs." Stanford Law Review 58.3 (2005): 703+.
Vila, Bryan, and Cynthia Morris, eds. Capital Punishment in the United States: A Documentary History. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997.
