Getahun 1!

Blen Getahun
Mr. Davis
Government 4
22 October 2015
Death Penalty
Death Penalty, also referred to as capital punishment and execution, is a form of
punishment by death that the government has established for various violations of the law. This
can be carried out in different ways depending on the state. Historically the most common form
of the death penalty was by hanging, but as of now it has changed mostly to the use of a lethal
injection or the electric chair. Methods of putting someone to death could be a topic of
controversy on its own. To simply put it, there are generally two sides on this issue. One side
supports or agrees with the death penalty, reasons for this vary, and another does not. Those who
agree with the death penalty think that those who are being put to death deserve it due to the
degree of the crime they have committed. There are more negatives than positives when it comes
to the use of the death penalty therefore, the death penalty should be eliminated in all 50 states
due to cost, racial issues and morality.
The death penalty is a very costly process, it includes the cost the government has to pay
for the convicts lawyers, the cost of the cases themselves, and the items used to execute
someone. The average amount of time a convict spends on death row before being executed is 16
years (Johnson). During these sixteen years not only is money being spent on regular prison
facilities, like meals and housing, but money is being spent to pay for a lawyer for this inmate.
From 1978 to 2014 California has spent approximately four billion dollars on death penalty cases

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when only 13 people were put to death (Condemned Inmates Who). With only 13 people put to
death, we have managed to spend four billion dollars on cases. This is an excessive amount of
money that could be used for more important issues like the general public. The price of
execution would far exceed the value of holding the inmate in prison. The average cost of
keeping an inmate in prison is approximately 47,000 dollars per year (United States). This means
that keeping thirteen inmates in prison for one hundred years would be approximately
61,100,000 dollars which is cheaper than executing thirteen inmates. The cost of putting an
inmate to death negatively impacts taxpayers. The racial biased against non white inmates also
does the same.
African Americans historically have always been discriminated against in the United
States. No matter the case African Americans are subject to an unfair disadvantages. This is the
same in the case of the death penalty, the odds of minorities being charged with the death penalty
is much higher (Hood 372). African Americans, among the majority of these minorities, are more
likely to die as opposed to a white male. This is not because they have committed more crimes; it
is because of the established act of racism that has existed in the United States. We simply
cannot say we live in a country that offers equal justice to all Americans when racial disparities
plague the system by which our society imposes the ultimate punishment (Congressional
Record 108th). Putting one race more at risk for conviction for doing the same crime as another
race, shows that there is no equality in the death penalty. This is because 98 percent of all
decision makers are white and only one percent are black (Study Cites Link 46). This shows that
there could be some racial discrimination occurring. With more white people in power it shows
that there is more of a predisposition to siding with the white person. The decision makers should

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consist of an equal mix of all races to ensure that all death penalty cases are handled fairly. The
concept of whether or not putting someone to death no matter the race is another issue.
Morally the act of killing someone as punishment is not right. No matter the crime they
have committed, they can pay for it in jail and learn from their mistakes. Capital punishment can
also be considered cruel and unusual which is a violation of the eighth amendment (Eighth
Amendment). An incident that happened to Joseph R. Wood is an example of cruel and unusual
punishment; Joseph R. Wood was given a lethal injection, he was gasping for air for an hour and
40 minutes before he died (Joseph R. Wood). Instead of instantly dying he was subject to
horrible circumstances that no one is deserving of. Another concern is that those who face mental
disabilities and have killed because of them also fall victim to being charged with the death
penalty. Those who are mentally ill do not deserve to die, it is not moral to put them to death
because they often do not have control over the situation or did not mean for the incident to
happen. Thomas H. Provenzano was killed despite being mentally ill (Supreme Court of). Due to
the fact he was mentally ill his verdict should have been revisited and changed to a life sentence
in jail or life in a mental facility. Death penalty advocates do not agree with this.
Some supporters of the death penalty say that those who commit heinous crimes deserve
to receive the death penalty. This is an incorrect statement because not everyone who has
committed a crime is stable when doing so. Some are mentally unstable and cannot tell right
from wrong. These people have no physical control over their actions so they should not be
subject to the death penalty. About one in 25 people sentenced to death are innocent (The Tab
For). This means four percent of people who die because of the death penalty are not deserving
of it. They lose their lives because of a discrepancy between the evidence found and the actual

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evidence. If they were instead placed in jail they could be removed and resume their normal lives
as soon as evidence proving their innocence was found. The death penalty is not something
anyone deserves, it is not justice but rather a form of revenge (Kaveny 9). Revenge is the only
thing being accomplished with the death penalty. Revenge gets nobody anywhere and does not
have a positive impact on anyone. Another argument is that more African Americans are likely to
be convicted because they commit more crimes. This is a misconception, more white people
commit crimes which are deserving of the death penalty but, more African Americans are
convicted. This could be due to various reasons. African americans are more likely to be
convicted due to having less money or purely due to race. Walter Berns states that no one with
money has ever received the death penalty (Stassen 1). Money plays a big role in success with
the death penalty case because you can afford to have a lawyer. African Americans typically do
not have enough money to pay for a lawyer and are left with what the government gives them,
which is an inadequate lawyer compared to the lawyers that people with money can afford.
The death penalty should be thought of as a very serious act that is irreversible. Many
people are wrongfully incriminated and put through a cruel form of punishment. The death
penalty hurts the United States because of its costliness, the issue of morality and racial bias.
Government officials need to step up and eradicate the death penalty in all 50 states.

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Works Cited
Book
Hood, Roger. The Death Penalty: A Worldwide Perspective. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. Print.
Periodical
"Study Cites Link Between Death Penalty And Race." Jet 22 June 1998: 46. Print. (magazine)
Web (.edu / .gov)
CONDEMNED INMATES WHO HAVE DIED SINCE 1978." California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation. Web.
"Congressional Record 108th Congress (2003-2004)." Congress.gov | Library of Congress. Web.
9 Oct. 2015.
"Eighth Amendment." LII / Legal Information Institute. Cornell University Law School, Web. 02
Oct. 2015.
"Joseph R. Wood." United States Courts for the Ninth Circuit. 23 July 2014. Web.
"Supreme Court of Florida." FSU College of Law. Florida State University. Web. 12 Oct.
2015.
United States. Legislative Analyst's Office. How Much Does It Cost to Incarcerate an Inmate?.
Web.
Web (CCCLIB)
Kaveny, Cathleen. "Justice Or Vengeance." Commonweal 135.3 (2008): 9. Literary Reference
Center. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
Kevin, Johnson, Wolf Richard, and TODAY USA. "Is the death penalty dying?." USA Today:
Web. 3 Oct. 2015.

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Stassen, Glen. "The Death Penalty Is Losing." Tikkun 23.4 (2008): 43-47. Literary Reference
Center. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
"The Tab For That Last Meal." Newsweek Global 162.20 (2014): 1. Middle Search Plus. Web. 11
Oct. 2015.
CCCLIB web links in order:
Justice or Vengeance:
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ez.ccclib.org/src_ic/detail/detail?
vid=30&sid=113111fa-14aa-4807-88b1-4b2cfe7515a3%40sessionmgr4005&hid=4106&bdata=#
AN=30762037&db=lfh
Is the death penalty dying?:
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ez.ccclib.org/src_ic/detail/detail?
vid=38&sid=113111fa-14aa-4807-88b1-4b2cfe7515a3%40sessionmgr4005&hid=4106&bdata=#
AN=J0E250207772615&db=mih
Death Penalty Is Losing:
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ez.ccclib.org/src_ic/detail/detail?
vid=2&sid=113111fa-14aa-4807-88b1-4b2cfe7515a3%40sessionmgr4005&hid=4106&bdata=#
AN=33293905&db=lfh
The Tab For That Last Meal:
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ez.ccclib.org/src_ic/detail/detail?
vid=4&sid=113111fa-14aa-4807-88b1-4b2cfe7515a3%40sessionmgr4005&hid=4106&bdata=#
AN=96040858&db=mih