by Nanette Piotrowski

Created on: February 28, 2009   Last Updated: April 16, 2011

The death penalty has long been one of the most controversial aspects of the justice system. Death Penalty advocates believe that the potential for recidivism is a serious enough threat to require that murderers be denied further access to the public. More than 250 inmates on death row today had prior homicide convictions; if they had been executed for their first offense, 250 innocent people would still be alive.

The homicide rate increased in the 1960s and 1970s when executions were halted. It is not a coincidence that murder rates have dropped since the death penalty was reinstated. The death penalty scares would-be criminals and, not surprisingly, homicide rates drop after a well-publicized execution. Each execution on average results in 18 fewer murders and any state that has had a moratorium on executions, the murder rate went up.

As of 12/31/99, the death penalty was authorized by 38 states. Texas leads the nation in the number of executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 and the average time on death row prior to execution is 10.26 years. Criminals fear the death penalty therefore, they are more likely to plea-bargain for longer prison terms.

It costs on average, per inmate, $22,650 annually versus the cost per execution for the drugs used is $86.08. If you take the annual cost by the years spent on death row (in Texas), the cost is $232,389.00 for one inmate. Since 12/31/05, there are 3500 offenders under sentence of death in the United States. That is a cost to the taxpayers of $708,861,500.00 per year. Some opponents of the death penalty will argue that it costs millions because of the judicial process of numerous appeals and it would be cheaper to keep the inmate incarcerated for life. If the average age of someone waiting for execution is 39 but we keep them in prison for a life term; let's say for argument that he dies naturally at age 60. The cost would be in the billions of dollars.

When committing evil crimes, murderers do not contemplate whether or not they may be executed in twenty years from now. If you expect murder to stop or even slow down; the people must change the laws to exact swift punishment so that anyone thinking about committing those crimes will be dealt with immediately.

In times past, before the criminal justice system began to grant more rights to the criminal and ignored the rights of the victim, execution was swift and final. The death penalty is morally correct because it provides the greatest justice for the victim and helps alleviate the psychic pain of the victims family and friends. The death penalty makes a moral statement: There is behavior that is so unacceptable to the community of human beings that one who engages in such behavior forfeits his/her right to live.

www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/drosfacts.htm

Essentials of Criminal Justice (fifth edition)

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