The Death Penalty in America

On January 1, 2008 there were 3,309 inmates on death row in the United States (Death Penalty Information Center). This staggering number causes some people to feel that a change needs to be made to the legal system for capital punishment. I believe the solution is to leave the death penalty as a punishment, but to change some of the laws which impact this form of punishment. It is important for the death penalty to remain a punishment option because of the high cost to keep prisoners in jail for life, the possibility of escape, and the deterrent which the death penalty provides.

I believe the solution to the death penalty's problems is to make it much easier to execute someone who pleads guilty to murder. If the accused pleads guilty then there is very little likelihood of them being innocent of the crime and therefore they should not be given the same rights to go through the appeals process.

One issue which this would solve is the costs of keeping prisoners in jail for life. Currently the cost of everything for an executed prisoner is more than a prisoner who is sentenced to life in jail; however this would change if there was a faster method to getting some convicted murderers executed faster. The largest costs are for courts and court personnel which are needed for the appeals process, but if there is no longer an option to appeal then there would not be any costs for this process. There would also be savings because the prisoners would not have to be kept in prison for as long and would be executed soon after their convictions.

In addition to the high costs of supporting a convict's life in prison, the threat of escape is no longer present if the murderer is executed. "From 1997 to 1998 there were 88 prison escapes" which is a frightening statistic if even one of them was on death row (Culp). The people on death row are all there for murder, this is the only crime which the Supreme Court consistently allows capital punishment for, and many of them are repeat offenders (Death Penalty Information Center). It is very important to avoid letting these criminals back out onto the streets, which means they have to be executed. Execution is the only way to guarantee a prisoner will not escape.

A final reason why the death penalty should remain an option for punishment is that it is a deterrent to criminals. It is more likely that a criminal will think harder about killing someone if they know that they might die for murdering them. This additional push in the right direction may save the lives of would-be victims of murderers who decide the risks are too high for them to commit murder. This may also reduce the number of armed robberies because the criminals will think that having a weapon will make it too easy for them to kill anyone who opposes them and a fear of execution will discourage them from this.

In the end, the death penalty is not perfect, but it is an important part of our legal system. Having the death penalty as a punishment option for murderers is helpful in reducing costs for taxpayers, preventing the escape of the most dangerous of criminals, and deterring criminals from murdering other members of society.