Ever feel that keeping prisoners in jail for a lifelong sentence is a waste of tax payer’s money? Wish there was a different option, well there is, the death penalty. Ever feel that crime rate is climbing and there isn’t a way to prevent it from increasing, during the 80’s and 90’s when the death penalty was being used the executions there were the crime rate had plummeted. Extensive analysis reveals that executions were associated with 71 fewer deaths per year. Sure the death penalty costs more than just keeping them locked up but wouldn’t it be better just to execute a criminals that have murdered and raped innocent people that have families that won’t be able to see them again? Those perpetrators need to know that there are lethal consequences for the crimes they commit. The death penalty can provide justice for the families of victims that feel the perpetrator who committed a crime to a loved one of and just goes to jail is an insult to their family. The death penalty is just a method of criminal punishment and is a better alternative to a long term prison sentence.
The death penalty was used throughout the 80’s and 90’s and they noticed that there was a decrease in crime rate. It was affective because perpetrators knew that for the crimes that they commit there were serious consequences. An increase in executions made crime rate plummet because the perpetrators knew that if the committed a serious crime like murder or rape that they could be faced with the death penalty if they were ever taken to prison. The death penalty can deter crimes and should be used today because if it doesn’t come back into use we can more crimes and more prisoners that tax payers have to have to pay for to keep locked up. But wasn’t the death penalty used throughout history to show if you commit a crime that you had to pay for it with your life to maintain the peace? It made people think about what could happen to them if they break the law and that they had to pay for it with their life.
Sure the death penalty cost around $2 million per case but it can prevent future crime and lower the death rate by 71 deaths per year. It is worth the cost for prisoners facing a life sentence because it’s just a waste of money keeping them locked up for that long and life without parole. In the long run the death penalty is cheaper than life without parole because life without parole cots $1 million for 5o years, but predictably these pronouncements maybe entirely false. The JFA estimates that LWOP cases cost $1.2 million – $3.6 million which is more than the equivalent of death penalty cases. The death penalty can be useful to shorten life long prison sentences.
The death penalty can provide justice for families who have lost loved ones do to a murder. Those family members feel that as long as the perpetrator is alive it is an insult to their family and the one who was murdered. They just want to know that the one who caused them pain pays for it because the one who was murdered didn’t deserve it. It is upsetting knowing that the perpetrator is just sitting behind bars and still alive with just that consequence on their shoulders. Other people want the one who caused their suffering to suffer as much as they did because it would make them think about what they did and if it was worth it. They feel that the perpetrator should have life without parole just so they can sit there with the guilt on their shoulders knowing what they have done to themselves and to others.
Editor’s note: I would recommend thoroughly checking some of the statements made here, such as the data on the effectiveness of the death penalty on deterrence.