What are some solutions to the death penalty? (for high school research project)?

Answer 1

Here are a few facts about the death penalty- they are all sourced-

Re: Alternatives
48 states have life without parole on the books. It means what it says, is swift and sure and is rarely appealed. Being locked in a tiny cell for 23 hours a day, forever, is certainly no picnic. Life without parole incapacitates a killer (keeps him from re-offending) and costs much less than the death penalty.

Re: Possibility of executing an innocent person
Over 120 people on death rows have been released with evidence of their innocence. Many had already served over 2 decades on death row. If we speed up the process we are bound to execute an innocent person. Once someone is executed the case is closed. If we execute an innocent person we are not likely to find that out and, also, the real criminal is still out there.

Re: DNA
DNA is available in less than 10% of murder cases. It is not a miracle cure for sentencing innocent people to death. It’s human nature to make mistakes.

Re: Appeals
Our appeals system is designed to make sure that the defendent's constitutional rights were respected at trial, not to second guess whether the defendant was actually innocent. It is very difficult to get evidence of innocence introduced before an appeals court.

Re: Deterrence
The death penalty isn’t a deterrent. Murder rates are actually higher in states with the death penalty than in states without it. People who kill or commit other serious crimes do not think they will be caught (if they think at all.)

Re: cost
The death penalty costs far more than life in prison. The huge extra costs start to mount up even before the trial.

Re: Who gets the death penalty
The death penalty isn’t reserved for the “worst of the worst,” but rather for defendants with the worst lawyers. When is the last time a wealthy person was sentenced to death, let alone executed??

Re: Victims families
The death penalty is very hard on victims’ families. Some victims families who support the death penalty in principal prefer life without parole because of how the death penalty affects families like theirs.

Opposing the death penalty doesn’t mean you condone brutal crimes or excuse people who commit them. According to a Gallup Poll, in 2006, 47% of all Americans prefer capital punishment while 48% prefer life without parole. Americans are learning the facts and making up their minds using common sense, not revenge or an eye for an eye mentality.

Answer 2

Solutions meaning....making more proficient, or eliminating the need for death as a punishment? To make it more proficient(saving tax dollars, family strains, and more feesible and cost efficient), I'd say to have a once a year sweep of death rows across the country....get it over with! If someone has been sentenced to die for a crime they did without a doubt commit, what's the sense of dragging it out? From another standpoint..To eliminate the need for capital punishment, what say we eliminate the need for abortion? Killing is killing, any way you look at it. I don't care if it's killing Peter Cottontail for chowing on your favorite carrot plant..or for the brutal murder of an innocent person for drug money by a crack addicted psychopath. So many views can be held on this controversial subject. If your freind or family member was the victim in a death penalty case....you wouldn't lose a seconds sleep.."Fry 'em, Shoot 'Em,
Gas 'em, But if you had no moral or personal attachment to the case, you would have a second to question the premise of "An eye for an eye..Tooth for a tooth..Life for a life..." But think again..It could be your Beloved Uncle Willie, who acted solely in self defense who took the life being avenged. Like I said Kid...Lot's of different views.

Answer 3

The death penalty is for those people, who are tried and convicted with out doubt, and beyond any expectation of rehabilitation. It is not a punishment, but a final solution to stop further aggressive hanus criminal actions by that person.

Answer 4

Some people are truly insane, damaged, and unable to rehabilitate. Some people truly are unfit for society. The only other option is life in prison.

Answer 5

Life in prison is what is advocated.

Answer 6

life in a Cole mine, or any dangerous job