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By Jayden Branam
Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, was first introduced to the United States in 1608, when European settlers came to the New World. Currently, there are 27 states in the U.S. that still consider legal execution an equitable method of justice. Lethal injection is the most common form of capital punishment. However, other methods such as “electrocution, gas chamber, hanging, and firing squad” (supremecourt.gov) are still authorized by the states. Over 70% of countries have abolished capital punishment in law or practice. Why then is it that the U.S. continues to use this debatably unjust and outdated form of retribution?
Advocates for the death penalty have long argued that the practice serves as a cost-effective crime deterrent. However, this is simply untrue. In fact, “State and regional murder statistics show no correlation between use of the death penalty and reduced crime” (deathpenaltyinfo.og). Not only are these legally authorized murders not discouraging further crime, but they are coming straight out of your, the taxpayer's, pocket. In Texas, executions are funded by increasing property tax rates and reducing public safety expenditures. The death penalty costs California roughly $137 million per year, whereas a system of life-long imprisonment would cost around $11.5 million (roughly a 92% decrease in expense). Although slightly lower, similar statistics can be found in other states such as Tennessee, Kansas, and Maryland. As a country, we are pouring money, by the millions, into violence. We are killing our own citizens in the name of “justice". But how can capital punishment be just when one out of eight people on death row has later been found innocent? How can it be just when the death penalty is inconsistently applied and most often applied to black men who have killed a white person? In 2018, black people made up only 13% of the American population. However, 41% of people on death row and 34% of those executed were black.
Although some may argue that the death penalty is vital to providing justice and closure for both victims and their families, we as a society must do away with this legalized vengeance. We do not put out fires with fire, so why should we solve violence with more violence? The very root of capital punishment goes against the dignity of our nation and has resulted in the deaths of far too many innocent individuals.
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