Assessing the Death Penalty

The death penalty. How do you feel about it?

Did you know that since 1973, 130 people have been released from death rows around the country due to new evidence which proved they were innocent? Some had spent years on death row for crimes they did not commit. Had they been executed during that time, there would have been no bringing them back to life. If this many were released..

How many innocent people may have died?

What are the reasons for the death penalty?

Is it a deterrent?

In September, 2000, The New York Times conducted a survey which found that in the last twenty years, states with the death penalty have had homicide rates 48 to 101 percent higher than states without the death penalty. Other studies  have corroborated these results. This makes sense, since most crimes are crimes of passion, done in the heat of the moment or under the influence of drugs or alcohol or during  a panic while committing a lesser crime such as a robbery. The only time the death penalty could be a deterrent would be when the murder is pre-meditated, and most of the death row defendents are not there for pre-meditated crimes.

In September, 2000, The New York Times conducted a survey which found that in the last twnety years, states with the death penalty have had homicide rates 48 to 101 percent higher than states without the death penalty.

Does it save taxpayer money?

To execute a prisoner costs about $3 millions dollars
To keep a prisoner in jail for a lifetime without chance of parole costs about $650,000.Recent studies have indicated that the death penalty costs 70% more than life time incarceration, in Tennessee 48% more, and in Maryland, the death penaly costs 3 times as much. In 2008, a California Commisson found that a system without the death penalty would cost 11.5 millions dollars, compared to 137 million with the death penalty. Even with no appeals, the death penalty is still more expensive.

Is it fair?

According to the US General Accounting Office, persons accused of murdering white victims are three times more likely to get the death penalty than those accused of murdering any other race. 95% of the death row inmates were unable to afford their own attorneys. African-American defendents receive the death penalty three times more often than other defendents when the victim is white. There is clear discrimination due to social status and race.

State legislators, such as those here in Georgia, often try to cut the budget for "indigent defense funds" by saying they don't want to spend taxes to "defend criminals." What happened, then, to innocent until proven guilty? It is much easier to prove innocence with the right lawyers,  obviously.

Only 2% of those convicted of a crime which could receive the death penalty are actually given that penalty. It is up to the prosecutor to determine whether the sentence is sought or not, and this may vary according to local politics, plea bargains, or sheer chance.

Since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated by the Supreme Court, 80% of all executions have taken place in the South.

A current case, that of Troy Anthony Davis, is  perfect example of a death row inmate who is not guilty "beyond reasonable doubt." Nearly every one of the witnesses in his case have recanted, most claiming that they were coerced into testifying by the police. There was no physical evidence connecting Troy to the crime, and in fact one expert witness claimed that the crime was committed by a left-handed person. Troy Davis is right-handed. The NAACP, former President Jimmy Carter, Amnesty Internation, Representative Bob Barr, and thousands of other people have spoken up for Troy, asking only that he be given a new trial to hear the new evidence. So far, the appeal has been denied.

If Troy Davis was not a black man in Georgia who was convicted of killing a white policeman, would he be where he is? Looking at the statistics above, what do you think?

It is time for the United States, and the South, to give us this archaic, expensive, ineffective, and ultimately immoral form of punishment. Think about it.