The execution of Davis has opened the door for an opportunity to have a real dialogue about the use of death penalty in the United States. There are countless reasons why I believe the death penalty should be abolished in the U.S., but I’m going to focus on the three of which most Americans are likely unaware.
1. It costs more money to execute someone than it does to keep them in prison.
Numerous studies have shown that it costs more money to carry out an execution than to keep someone in prison for life without parole. The constitution requires a long and complex judicial process for capital cases, making it much more expensive to carry out. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, capital cases cost the state of Texas on average $2.3 million, which is three times the cost of imprisoning the highest security single cell inmate over the course of 40 years.
2. The U.S. is in bad company.
The United States ranks fifth in the world in the number of executions carried out annually - behind China, Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. A majority of countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice, and around three countries abolish the death penalty every year. This has been a source of tension between many of our closest allies who do not support the death penalty and continues to alienate us from the rest of the industrialized world.
3. The death penalty is racist.
Although African-Americans make up almost half of all homicide victims in the U.S., the overwhelming majority of death row defendants have been executed for killing white victims. According to Amnesty International, the victim’s race is the most reliable predictor of a defendant receiving the death penalty. Studies have also shown that prosecutors are more likely to seek the death penalty when the victim is white.
I have a hard time understanding why the majority of Americans still support the death penalty. Maybe they are simply uneducated about the real effects of this cruel and barbaric form of punishment (or maybe they have a fetish for vengeance). Although the possibility that Georgia executed an innocent man yesterday is a serious blow to our judicial system, the only hope is that Americans will take this opportunity to reevaluate their own personal values and challenge their leaders to abolish the death penalty once and for all.
Photo Credit: Evan Mascagni
The Discussion
All industrialized countries accept US, Japan, South Korea and Singapore have abolished the death penalty.
In North America, only US and Guatemala still execute people.
the death penalty violates the 8th Amendment and it does constitute cruel and unusual punishment because it is racist, 60% of death penalty sentences since Gary Gilmore in 1977(Who was the rare Caucausian) have been given to African Americans. It constitutestorturelookatSDandFL!
I would add an additional argument; the death penalty is not a deterrent. After being reinstated in the 1970's, violent crime did not decrease and actually increased until the early 1990's. Since then, there has been a major decrease in violent crime, but not due to the US death pentaly policy.
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Very sad to hear about that I can just add: I don't remember the name but a British author says that how many will you punish for death? How many will you slaughter? How many will you take into the bars? Till there is the difference between rich and poor we won't have a second to breath peacefully. We should be having equality, peace, social justice and progress. Then me and you both will be living in a peaceful World. So we should say no to d
The racist dimension proves itself over and over. On Thursday, 22 September, Samuel Crowe, a death row inmate who PLEAD GUILTY to armed robbery and murder, was scheduled to be executed via lethal injection.
Hours before the execution, he was granted clemency by the same board that executed Troy Davis. He is white.
Institutionalized racism is still rampant.
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The death penalty doesn't exist in Britain however we debated this issue in class today. I'm unsure of whether or not I agree because on one hand you are taking someones life and tearing another family apart but what if they abducted murdered+raped someone?Also will you ever know if they are guilty?
As a disclaimer I want to say I wholly agree based on the economic stand point, but your third point - yes while there definitely is some racial prejudice in our system, couldn't it be argued that we are just trying to discourage 'hate crime behavior?'
Evan, I'm sure you mean well with this post, but the issues you raise have been pretty much hashed out in the last couple of days.
Mine is one voice that objects to abolishing the death penalty. But I will not repeat my extensive arguments and comments on policymic.
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I am from Switzerland.
This article is well done :)
The true thing for me about why I do not agree with Death Penalty is Death Penalty is just unacceptable to rend the justice in our time.
Regardless of one's opinion about the death penalty, Davis' execution should not have occurred because of the reasonable doubt that has surfaced. His detractors had responses to all the new and old revelations, but you would think those who crave for revenge could wait a little longer.
I really don't care about other countries. We need to have the highest standards, morality and empathy in America. I think the death penalty brings our society down.
Nevertheless, I feel for those families who have been devastated by horrific events. So, I can understand their desire for closure or whatever you want to call it.
Good article Ewan, well done. I've written one about Troy Davis myself (see profile), but this is clear and concise, and I agree - I have a hard time understanding the counter-arguments. Wondered if you had any experience with death row as an attorney? I visited Angola, Louisiana State Penitentiary, while visitng the South a couple of years back; it helped me understand the system but militarised me nonetheless.
Countries that have mutual extradition treaties with the U.S. but that have abolished the death penalty should suspend the treaties until the U.S. is on the same basis. Not doing so is letting their own citizens remain vulnerable for a punishment their government deems uncivilized.