Should We Abolish The Death Penalty

Editor: Anita Newkirk Hackney

Capital punishment or the death penalty has been a part of American history since the British influence in Jamestown in 1608. Since then, the United States has used the death penalty as a tool to punish murderers such as John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Timothy McVeigh, and many others. Capital punishment has become as common for the United States as slavery was before the Civil War. Now, it seems like we are questioning the purpose of capital punishment. So, should we get rid of the death penalty in the United States? 

For most US citizens, it’s an easy answer; but the problem lies that both sides (for and against) feel very strongly about their opinion. In a 2019 Gallup poll about the death penalty, approximately 36% of people were for the death penalty and approximately 60% of people were against it. In 2014,  50% of the people said there was a better way to punish murders while 45% preferred life in prison. This response reflects a 15% shift in American’s views towards capital punishment in five year period. 

Instead of asking should we get rid of the death penalty, maybe we should ask, ‘what is the cost to carry out the death penalty?’.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC):

“[. . .] Defense costs for death penalty trials in Kansas averaged about $400,000 per case…A new study in California revealed the cost of the death penalty in the state has been over $4 billion since 1978. 

“In Maryland, an average death penalty case resulting in a death sentence costs approximately $3 million. The eventual costs to Maryland taxpayers for cases pursued 1978-1999 will be $186 million…

“The most comprehensive study in the country found that the death penalty costs North Carolina $2.16 million per execution over the costs of sentencing murderers to life imprisonment. In Texas, a death penalty case costs an average of $2.3 million, about three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years.”

28 out of the 50 states have the death penalty in the United States.  Some states have imposed moratoria, otherwise known as temporary suspension on executions. 

In the United States, we are facing a racial discrepancy in how we handle certain cases. There is systemic racism of African Americans not only in the police department but also in the courts issuing capital punishment to them more often than their counterparts.

According to the DPIC, 41% of death-row inmates are African American. Recent racial studies show African Americans who were convicted of killing white people were more than three times more likely to be sentenced to death as those who were convicted for killing African Americans. In the state of Washington, there are three times more likely to recommend capital punishment for an African American defendant than for a white defendant who committed a similar crime. In Louisiana, the odds of an African American defendant getting a death sentence is 97% higher for those whose victims were white than for those whose victims were African American. 

There have been several African Americans who were released from death-row with proof of their innocence. There have been approximately 3.5 who were wrongly imprisoned for murderous actions  they did not commit, and they have been exonerated each year since 1973. 

According to Madeleine Carlisle from the TIME:

“Joe Biden is the first president in U.S. history to openly campaign on abolishing the death penalty and win. Now that he’s in the White House, pressure is already mounting from activists and lawmakers for him to fulfill that promise…

“Former President Trump’s Department of Justice had been run with a polar opposite view: In the last seven months of his presidency, the Trump administration oversaw the most federal civilian executions since 1896…

Capital punishment or the death penalty is still a part of American history since the British influence in 1608. Since then, the United States has used it as a tool to make an example of murderers throughout history. Although, we disagree on the use of the death penalty, it has shown more people are against capital punishment than are for it. What is your opinion on the matter? Let us know in the comments below.