Christine Warmka Mr.

Holliday ENC 1101 04/15/2012 Vengeance One of Gandhi's most notable quotes is an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Contrary to what some might believe revenge is not sweet, especially when it involves the justice system. The death penalty is a suitable example of an eye for an eye. Some might say it will bring justice but truthfully no matter how severe a punishment is, peace will never be brought to those who have lost. Killing someone so justice can be served is very inhumane. The death penalty does equate to the damage caused by a criminal but like the old saying says two wrongs do not make a right. The wrongs in capital punishment are numerous and so are the taxpayers money used up on this failing system. This is a practice containing a grander amount of flaws than benefits. Studies have been unsuccessful in finding it to be a successful form of punishment. One of the aims of this sentence is for people to refrain from breaking the law but the fear of execution does not actually deter crime. An abundant quantity of time and resources are waste away on the ones on death row when in truth nearly all of them do not even wind up getting executed. The death penalty is an expensive barbaric form of punishment which in many cases is unjust. One of the explanations of why the death penalty ought to be abolished is because it is inhumane. The Eighth Amendment in the Bill of Rights prohibits the practice of punishments which are cruel and unusual which many concur is precisely what capital punishment is. The execution of an offender does not fix the awful harm he or her has infiltrated on others but instead it forever ties the victims survivors and the entire society to the act of ritualistic revenge killing

(Herron). The act of killing someone for vengeance or justice is brutal, inhumane and rejects the worth of life itself. When people are on death row they are often awaiting a decision for various years. The risk of being put to death triggers a great deal of anxiety, trauma and psychological damage to ones mind. Being condemned to life in jail without the possibility of parole is a far more appropriate solution in view of the fact that capital punishment does not just punish the felon only but it also significantly burdens his or her family. The death sentence does not just take the life of one human being, but it in a sense takes the life of many. In addition to bringing pain to the felons family the highest form of punishment will also never bring closure to the families and loved one of the felons victims. Time and money should be spent on a civilized and more productive way of decreasing crime. The death penalty does not only cost the lives of countless people but it also costs a significant quantity of money. Numerous findings have concluded that the financial costs to taxpayers of execution are far superior to that of someone serving life in a detention center. The yearly expenses of capital punishment approximate to $10 million per state. If this vicious practice were to be put to an end the savings would prove to be substantial and they could fund 250 additional workers in each state to secure a better community (Dieter). During a time of such economic recession the United States needs to cut back on spending on something that does not produce any clear benefits. The rate of unemployment in this country is scarily high and a large amount of Americans are currently living on a tight budget. It is not reasonable for anyones tax money to be wasted on something so ineffective when that money is needed elsewhere. This costly method of punishment ironically happens to be unjust in many instances. It has been proven that innocent people have been executed in the past only after it was too late as well as being used disproportionately against the poor or against racial or ethnic minorities. (Herron).

Studies have revealed that a persons race also plays a role in whether they are executed or not. There are more black people on death row than any other race (Peffley) and they are more likely to face a death sentence if they are convicted of murdering whites (e.g., Keil and Vito 1995). Another serious issue with the death penalty is when people who have mental illnesses are involved. Ones who are mentally ill occasionally are sentenced to death rather than receiving the medical care they require. Capital punishment does not deliver justice for what people have done if it targets the poor, the mentally ill, the disenfranchised and the dispossessed (Herron). Some people neglect the unfairness of this system but they object to the abolition of this form of punishment because they believe that it serves as a deterrent for criminals who are already incarcerated for life. People with this perception figure that since an offender already is serving the maximum sentence, they will act out given that nothing they do will affect them any further. Although this may appear as a reasonable mindset, in reality there has been not been a sufficient amount of evidence agreeing that execution has been capable to prevent crime or murder (Stevens). Many police officers disagree with capital punishment since it is not an effective way of preventing crime (Dieter). Another reason why the argument against the elimination of the death sentence is not convincing is because if people who are already incarcerated have the capability to carry on to break the law, the security has to be inadequate. By getting rid of the death penalty the money which used to go toward paying for it could be used to provide better security in detention centers. Capital punishment is an absolute waste of money, time and human life when it does absolutely nothing to help this nation. It is the twenty-first century yet people are still acting like primitives regarding this issue. Delinquents do not refrain from breaking the law because of the possibly of being sentenced to die. The risk of being put to death does not instill fear in criminals. Felons who are already locked up should not have the capability to continue to murder or to

commit further crimes if more resources were invested in jail security. Citizens should be informed about this issue because it does affect them seeing as how part of their income is wasted on something so preposterous. Capital punishment ought to be abolished since it produces no effective results and causes more damage than if criminals were just sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.