Why do people continue to support the death penalty?

Question

when it cost the state (taxpayers) three times as much to carry out the sentence than it does to keep a person in prison for 40 years.

Do you really think it is a deterant. Do people stop in the fit of rage it takes to kill someone to logically think about the death penalty?

captain moe - the costs comes from the appeals process and the cost of the court appointed attorneys.

elude - crimes of passion can and do receive the death penalty

Beliver - there was an article in yesterdays Dallas morning news about those facts. I'll try and find the link

keif - you are an idiot if you think the actual "process" of putting someone to death has anything to do with my question.

wingshooter - are you on crack. the cost has to do with the lengthy legal process. wake up.

Answer 1

Note to asker- You know your stuff, but I I want you to have this information with sources when needed. That is why my answer is so long. You have received so many mixed up answers. I see that you have already tried to correct them. Here are some stats and facts to back up what you have written- they are also sourced (see below)

Why the death penalty costs much more than life. Some of the reasons you may not already know-

Pre trial costs are much greater because, once a suspect is caught, the prosecutor must do a separate investigation into the crime, into the suspect himself, that is, does the suspect have mental retardation (if so, he cannot face the death penalty) or mental illness (he can face the death penalty). If the prosecutor decides to seek the death penalty, the trial will have two separate phases, one to decide guilt, one to decide the penalty. The process of choosing jurors is much more complicated in death penalty cases. Many more pre-trial motions are filed by both sides and have to be answered. Prosecution teams use more lawyers, and where the money is available, by the defense as well. Death penalty cases take much longer to try. If the sentence is death, the prisoner will be locked up in a separate prison facility, which is generally much expensive to run and to maintain. It is only at this point that appeals begin and costs continue to mount up. It is also important to note that the overwhelming number of cases where the death penalty is not on the table end in plea bargains.

As an example, in New York State, the average annual cost to incarcerate someone not on death row is about $35,000 per year. On the other hand, in the years since 1995, when New York State brought back a death penalty law, 7 people were sentenced to death, none had more than one appeal and 3 had not even had their first appeal. New York shelled out well over $200,000,000 for its capital punishment system since 1995. People should do the math.

Deterrence means persuading other people not to commit the crime for which someone else has been punished. Incapacitation means to prevent a person from reoffending. Life without parole (as well as an execution) incapacitates. To be a deterrent, a punishment must be swift and sure. The death penalty is neither, while life without parole is both of these. The death penalty is not a deterrent. Most killers do not even think they will be caught (if they think at all). Homicide rates are higher in states with the death penalty.

Life without parole- on the books in 48 states.

Speed- 123 people have been freed from death rows with evidence of their innocence, many having served two decades. Speeding up the process will guarantee that an innocent person is executed. DNA exists in less than 10% of all homicide cases. It is not a guarantee that we will not execute an innocent person.

The death penalty does not apply to the worst of the worst. but to people with the worst lawyers. When is the last time a wealthy person came close to facing the death penalty.

48% of Americans prefer life without parole and 47% prefer the death penalty. We are learning. Eye for an eye judgments may sound good but they do not make sense.

Answer 2

In some case I do help the dying penalty yet no longer in all circumstances! you're precise one can not be taught via being killed even though there are some individuals that are so undesirable that they do exactly no longer need to stay! A slap on the back is genuinely distinctive than the dying penalty! i do no longer have confidence it may actually be the two or. The dying penalty would desire to be reserved in ordinary terms for the harshest incorrect doers. Others would desire to be jailed for an fantastically long term. gentle incorrect doers would nicely be rehabilitated.

Answer 3

It may or may not be a deterant but if they find that the person is responsible for a crime so horrible that the "death sentence" was deemed appropiate then why would you want to lock them up for the rest of their lives in a small cell with little to none human contact.
The people that are calling for the abolishment of the death penalty are the same people that say that the way we raise veal is cruel.
I say kill them all and let God sort them out!

Answer 4

A lot of people aren't killing people in a "FIT" of rage.. I guess until it happens to someone you love dearly you will continue to feel the way you do... But god forbid something does happen where it effects you directly, you will have Many feelings raging through you and the death penalty won't sound so bad.

And we tax payers pay for a lot of unnecessary things.. I don't like the idea that Politicians take family vacations on my money but the truth is they do, and will continue to.

Answer 5

Obviously nothing violent has ever happened to you or your family or loved ones, and that's good, but to others the death penalty is even too nice for some dirt bags. And if a person sentenced to death is executed within 24 hours of the sentence, then there is not major waste of tax payers money, and even that is a crime having to use tax payers money for executing dirt bags. It can work two ways, toss them in an alligator farm, you feed the gators and get rid of the dirtbag.

Answer 6

It shouldnt cost more to carry out teh death penalty than keep them in prison. The process needs to be changed.
Yes I believe its a deterent.
And when prisons are overcrowded and some people get let out only to murder or rape again how do you feel about that?

Answer 7

the reason cost are high, because the numbers of appeals.
no matter, how clear cut and a confession, still the appeals.
if the jury recommends death ,must have minimum of 9 votes
not 12.
the fastest death sentence was olklahoma city bomber. less then 3 years after conviction.

i like Saddam justice convicted. hung the next year.

Answer 8

When a convicted person sits on death row for 20 years, it tends to give a person a bad taste in their mouth when you look at the numbers.... An estimated 30,000. is spent to support the individual.... If their guilty, then why continue the madness..

Answer 9

It may be a foreign concept to most liberals but it's called JUSTICE. I advocate the death penalty for those who meet 3 criteria: brutal capital crimes, admission of guilt, measurable evidence they committed the crime.

Answer 10

abolish the death penalty now