Sara Taylor

October 10, 2014

Critical Thinking Assignment: Capital Punishment
The definition of Capital Punishment, more commonly known as the death penalty. is
execution for murder and some other capital crimes (Gerald N. Hill and Kathleen T. Hill. 1981-
2005). My question about the death penalty is should it be legal or illegal in the United States?
The death penalty is legal in 32 out of 50 states in the United States of America. More than half
of the United States thinks that Capital Punishment should be legal and is not an immoral act. If
the people on death row are getting executed for murdering someone how is it just for the
government of that state to murder them? Personally, I believe that it all depends on the crime
the defendant has committed to even consider if they are eligible for Capital Punishment.
There were a lot of assumptions I had on this topic before I researched it. I assumed that
Capital Punishment should be determined by the crime the defendant has committed. I assumed
that Capital Punishment shouldnt be allowed if the defendant only committed a crime such as
burglary and or public intoxication. The defendant would have to commit a crime that was a
class A felony to even be considered Capital Punishment. Capital Punishment should not be an
everyday thing that criminals should have to face. I assumed that once they went through the trial
if they were sentenced to Capital Punishment they would be executed right away. I also assumed
that not a lot of states would keep or make Capital Punishment legal. Some of my assumptions
were correct but others were completely wrong.
If a defendant committed a Class A felony such as murder should he receive the death
penalty? Many states would say no, because the death penalty is not legal in their state. But if
you asked someone in a state where the death penalty was legal; many of the citizens in that state
would say it was completely okay, a normal consequence for a criminal. Based on the year of
2000, Texas leads the United States in death penalty convictions and execution (Kathy Gill,
2000.) So if you were to ask a Texan if they thought the death penalty was wrong Im sure the
answers would vary widely. I personally believe in the death penalty for some crimes. I believe
that if an adult kills a child they should be put on death row and eventually killed. Regardless of
the situation killing children is never a moral act. Another situation where I think the death
penalty should also be used if more than one person is killed by the same criminal. Serial killers
should receive the death penalty and have in the past.
I asked AnneMarie Curran a citizen of Texas since she was born, what she thought about
the death penalty and how, or if it affected her and her family. I grew up knowing that the death
penalty was legal in the state of Texas. It almost gave me a sense of relaxation knowing if
someone killed a human being they would be sentenced to death row and most likely killed. But
I also felt bad for the families that had to watch their so, daughter, niece, and nephew etc. die. It
never affected my family or anyone I knew personally, which I am beyond thankful for, but I can
only imagine what it would be like having to see someone you know die like that. Hearing her
say that I can completely agree with both points of where she is coming from. I think that it
would be a nice feeling to know that there was no possible way a murderer could come back into
society, but then again being in the situation of having a member of your family sentenced to
death. Having to die instead of life in prison would also be an awful feeling.
There are two very important reasons to support the death penalty: They are the
innocence factor (if the criminal in a case is not guilty but is convicted for the crime) and the
expense of putting criminals to death. In the case of innocence, a person cant get their life back
if they are executed. The average time it takes to execute a criminal that is on death row is
around 10.1 years. Sixty percent of the inmates on death row are non-white. In the criminal cases
(18%) DNA evidence played a factor between a guilty of innocent verdict being handed down
(Possey, 2013).
If one thing goes wrong in a case it could make a completely innocent person receiving a
guilty verdict; and, sometimes in that situation it can an aspect of life and death, or life in prison
(Ray McKeon, 2007). This aspect of the death penalty is very concerning to me. I think that if
criminals are put on death row the evidence should be examined very crucially. This person is in
a life or death situation and should be tried very carefully, just like all of the other trials. People
make mistakes all the time and thats what makes people human. But with these cases mistakes
are not a possibility.
The cost of using the death penalty is about $137 million per year (Ray McKeon 2007).
The cost to put one criminal through the prison system is around $35,000 per year. It costs more
than $90,000 a year to host a criminal on death row instead of just sending them to prison for life
(Ray McKeon, 2007). According to the Sacramento Bee we would save $90 million a year
closing death row (Sacramento Bee, 1988). This numbers really shocked me. I had absolutely no
idea that it cost that much to execute someone. These numbers are outrageous, but it still brings
me to the fact that some of these people on death row deserved to be killed. Putting them in
prison for life is a big consequence, but for serial killers that have no remorse for what they did,
putting them in prison are putting a lot of people at risk. The other inmates are at risk because
this criminal could have a bad day and attack another inmate or a correctional officer. Even with
these high numbers I still believe some of these people deserve and should receive the death
penalty.
As shown Capital Punishment is a very complex subject. But, I think Capital Punishment
should be illegal. I see where certain circumstances where Capital Punishment could be used, but
for the most part Capital Punishment is wrong and doesnt benefit todays society. There is no
justification for killing a person who has killed someone else. Two wrongs dont make a right,
and God should be the only person taking another life. It would be hypocritical to kill a
murderer, that situation is showing that murdering is okay in certain circumstances when it
absolutely is not.








Works Cited:
"CLOSING DEATH ROW WOULD SAVE STATE $90 MILLION A YEAR", Sacramento
Bee, Published on March 28, 1988, Page A1, 2589 words
Websters Dictionary. 1981-2005 by Gerald N. Hill and Kathleen T. Hill.
M. Possley, "How Two Newspaper Reporters Helped Free an Innocent Man The Atlantic, ,"
August 29, 2013;
Posted by DPIC, August 29, 2014.
Ray McKeon, 2002. The Death Row Visit. Howard Bott.
AnneMarie Curran. October 10, 2014.