death penalty - is it worth paying for?

Question

the expense - the cool to have an inmate executed is around $2.5 million dollars - 6 times the cost to keep that same person in prison for life. is it worth it?

Answer 1

Several people who answered don't know why the death penalty costs so much. The legal process in death penalty cases is complicated and lengthy, to prevent executions of innocent people, and also because of constitutional rights of due process. For the specifics, people can look at deathpenaltyfocus.org, click on facts and then on costs. In New York State, for example, 7 men were sentenced to death in the 10 year period when the death penalty was on the books. Of these just 4 had an appeal and the rest had not reached that. During this time, New York spent over $200,000,000 on its death penalty. On the other hand, New York spends an average of $35,000-$40,000 to incarcerate someone for a year. Assuming the 7 men live an average of 45 years, the cost of incarceration for them would total between 11 million and 12.6 million dollars.

I don't think the extra expense is worh it. You don't have to condone brutal crimes or want the criminals who commit them to avoid a harsh punishment to ask whether the death penalty prevents or even reduces crime and whether it risks killing innocent people.

124 people on death rows have been released with proof that they were wrongfully convicted. DNA is available in less than 10% of all homicides and isn’t a guarantee we won’t execute innocent people.

The death penalty doesn't prevent others from committing murder. No reputable study shows the death penalty to be a deterrent. To be a deterrent a punishment must be sure and swift. The death penalty is neither. Homicide rates are higher in states and regions that have it than in states that don’t.

We have a good alternative. Life without parole is now on the books in 48 states. It means what it says. It is sure and swift and rarely appealed. Life without parole is less expensive than the death penalty.

The death penalty costs much more than life in prison, mostly because of the legal process which is supposed to prevent executions of innocent people.

The death penalty isn't reserved for the worst crimes, but for defendants with the worst lawyers. It doesn't apply to people with money. When is the last time a wealthy person was on death row, let alone executed?

The death penalty doesn't necessarily help families of murder victims. Murder victim family members across the country argue that the drawn-out death penalty process is painful for them and that life without parole is an appropriate alternative.

Problems with speeding up the process. Over 50 of the innocent people released from death row had already served over a decade. If the process is speeded up we are sure to execute an innocent person.

Answer 2

America claims to be a civilized nation and a world leader , yet 16 states sanction capital punishment same as the, China, and the Middle East, America has more domestic gun violence than any country on the planet. What good does it do to kill some one for 2.5mllilon dollars, it is ridiculous and inhuman, but that has always been America.,, When did American's become God..Thou shall not kill! ..90% of American's claim to be Christian
yet the flout the tenants of the 10 commandments as they see fit.
If America got rid of the hand guns, and assault rifles and inherent in equalities among the people, then perhaps the U.S could put the money that used to execute someone, into educating someone, before they become killers.. Yes we are
400 million and combined we have less than 100 gun and knife murders a year across 25 EU states, including the U.K.
and no our history has not been blessed without madness and violence.. and there will always be crazy leaders..even elected ones.. and no!... i have not forgotten about WWII, and the Third Reich, but that is a different topic.. Outlaw Capital Punishment and then there is no need for spending 2.5milion dollars on anything but education and fairness in life

Answer 3

2.5 million ? for an execution ? I find that hard to believe. Then again, even if the figure is right, ask yourself...why is it sooo expensive to put a person to death.
It is because you have the politics of the doctors saying ..."we are the only one's with the right to pronounce people dead", then those same doctors refuse to administer the proceedure due to it causing "stress" and undo "harm" on the very people that didn't give a damn about society or "stress" or "harm" when they were raping your sister, or killing your mom, or any other of the various acts that call for the death penalty.
This is where political correctness has messed up a good enough program.
Anyone involved with sociology and phychiatry can tell you that the chances of some mass killer or depraved person actually "recovering" to the point he can re-enter society at large isn't good at all, if not scarce. Prisons are over crowded, People sit on death row for decades trying to fight the system.
You can't tell me that it cost 2.5 million to throw a switch, or that the poison in the suringe is that rare. Get rid of the happy go lucky politically correct whacko crowd, get rid of the whining doctors, and put these people to death. Last I heard there were over 600 just sitting there in California alone.
I'm sure you haven't added the cost to build new prison facilities. Many today are over crowded and old.
I'm sure we can bring that cost down if the right people spot lighted it and did some digging.

Answer 4

Don't be a fool. Revenge? No. Justice is the only word that applies. Take a case in California: a man abducts a three year old child, rapes the child and tortures the child over a period of three days. He tries to skin the child ALIVE and finally kills the child by suffocation achieved through putting his penis in the child's mouth and holding the child's nose until she died. He took pictures of everything and wrote notes and journal entries about it. What should the penalty for a crime like that be? How is allowing a person such as that to live ANY type of justice? Even in prison, inmates in SHU (secured housing unit) and lockdown facilities can and do injure guards and other inmates and even kill them. Why should this be permitted? For MONEY? Are you kidding? Or are you one of those idiots who says the SHU program is cruel and inhumane? Prison isn't an accident or an incidental thing. You go to prison because you have done something wrong. You sent yourself there and if you don't like it, don't go back. You'd rather see these killers in the general population? They'll be killed there, too, you know, and in a MUCH less humane manner as the death penalty involves. Or is murder OK with you as long as YOUR ethical hands don't get dirty? No offense but people like you make me sick. You reject the idea of capital punishment sitting behind your safely locked doors because it upsets your idea of a "civilized society." If it wasn't for things such as capital punishment there could BE no civilized society. You like to use buzzwords and catch phrases like "state-sanctioned murder" and "Execute Justice, Not People" but you have no concept of bloody murder and the types of personalities that commit the kinds of crimes that qualify for the death penalty. These people cannot be rehabilitated and have shown callous disregard for the lives of others, or even sexual excitement at their suffering. It is totally acceptable to some of these people that you DIE so they can have an orgasm. What is the punishment that fits this type of selfishness and disgusting lack of human emotion? Death. And by the way, people are often more than willing to pay for justice. In the trial of serial killers Charlene and Gerald Gallegos, the county had to run a fund-raiser to pay for the trial and the citizens GLADLY contributed. This has since been repeated in other localities with great success.

Answer 5

That 2.5 million does that include the cost of letting them live for 20 to 30 years before we decide to execute them? They should have one yr to prove the law wrong and then should be taken out behind the prison and shot once in the head. death is certain and quick. Cost well a shotgun will run you about $200 and can be used again and again. The bullets are about $30 per box. Hey look problem solved. Imagine how much money it will save.


Valentine: If what you're saying is true then I am very sorry. Have you tried writing letters to lawyers. Some will take it pro bono. If I were in your position I would write a letter to every lawyer in the state. If there is evidence out there to prove he is innocent then find it and if no lawyer will take your case go to the media and then see how many laywers jump on it.

Answer 6

Humankind are strange species - they go to war, get killed by the thousands, killing other human beings by the thousands, (often the innocent) and pay for it with billions, trillion of dollars.

Yet, humankind thinks it's inhuman to impose Capital Punishment for those convicted of murder, violent sexual assault, kidnapping - they feel it's barbaric, uncivilized to take a life of another fellow human being and is worried about the cost. How much did you say 2.5 million a shot?

The Iraq war already costs each American tax payer USD195 a DAY for the next 10 YEARS (don't forget re-construction effort - yup you pay for that too!). And continue to make millions for the warmongers and its cohorts. Is it worth paying for???

Answer 7

death penalty - is it worth paying for?
the expense - the cool to have an inmate executed is around $2.5 million dollars - 6 times the cost to keep that same person in prison for life. is it worth it?
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-Hey I can't help it if it costs them $2,500,000 to execute someone and going through all those LAWYERS AND FEES for years and years when all the judge has to say is GUILTY... then... GUT THE GUN or HANG HIM or TIE A WEIGHT TO HIS ANKLES AND DROP HIM NEXT TO THE TITANTIC

Answer 8

If it prevented a prison guard from getting his throat slit, I'd have to say sure.

Also, the only reason the cost is higher is thanks to the ACLU types and endless appeals. If us pro death penalty folks had our way, and you lefties stepped aside, things would move along more quickly. I would hazzard a guess that the cost is less than $2.5 mil in TX, even with the ACLU's meddling.

Also, Google Richard Speck and then ask the victims what they would choose - most would say pay up.

Answer 9

If you're talking about the cost to execute death penalty, it is not worth to spend that much.

But if you're referring to penalty itself, it is good if they are executing the right person. Equal justice between rich and the poor.

Answer 10

i believe in the death penialty, however i have a brother in the pen for something he didn't do cause of we are poor can't get him out he is stuck there he would rather die in the chamber for something he didn't do than for something he did do at the age 14. so i answer is yes anyone challenge that then take it up with yahoo. he has been there for 25 year's. so answer that???????????