Capital punishment in Texas is unjust

** Resolved: Capital punishment in Texas is unjust. My value for this round will be Societal Welfare, defined by Oxford English Dictionary as, "The well-being of the entire society. Social welfare is not the same as standard of living but is more concerned with the quality of life that includes factors such as level of crime, extent of drug abuse, availability of essential social services, etc. To successfully measure Societal Welfare throughout this debate, I will use Safety as my Value Criterion, which again is defined by Oxford English Dictionary as: "The state of being protected from or guarded against hurt or injury; freedom from danger. " I concede to my opponents definition of "unjust" Introduction Orrin Hatch, United States Senator in Utah once said, "Capital punishment is our society's recognition of the sanctity of human life. " It is because I agree with Orrin Hatch, that I must negate the resolution, Resolved: Capital punishment in Texas is unjust. My value for this debate will be Justice, which is defined by Oxford English Dictionary as, "The maintenance or administration of what is just especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments. "To successfully measure Justice throughout this debate, I will use Safety as my Value Criterion, which again is defined by Oxford English Dictionary as, "The state of being protected from or guarded against hurt or injury; freedom from danger. " Contention 1: Capital Punishment deters crime. **The graph below drawn by the Bureau of Criminal Justice gives a general overview of the murder rate compared to the number of executions that had taken place in the US up to the year 2000. . http://wesleylowe.com... ** Dismissing capital punishment on the basis of saying that it does NOT deter crime would require us to eliminate all prisons as well because they do not seem to be any more effective in the deterrence of crime. [1] During the temporary suspension on capital punishment from 1972-1976, researchers gathered murder statistics across the country. In 1960, there were 56 executions in the USA and 9,140 murders. By 1964, when there were only 15 executions, the number of murders had risen to 9,250. In 1969, there were no executions and 14,590 murders, and 1975, after six more years without executions, 20,510 murders occurred rising to 23,040 in 1980 after only two executions since 1976. In summary, between 1965 and 1980, the number of annual murders in the United States skyrocketed from 9,960 to 23,040, a 131 percent increase. The murder rate -- homicides per 100,000 persons -- doubled from 5.1 to 10.2. So the number of murders grew as the number of executions shrank. The potential for negative consequences deters some behavior. The most severe criminal sanction -- execution -- does not contradict that finding. Reason, common sense, history and the weight of the studies support the deterrent effect of the death penalty. The death penalty protects innocent lives. The absence of the death penalty sacrifices innocent lives. The murder rate in Harris County (Houston), Texas has fallen 73% since executions resumed in 1982, through 2000, from 31/100,000 to 8.5/100,000. Contention 2: Capital Punishment is cheaper then Life Sentencing and is also unjust in many cases. Sub Point A: Capital Punishment is cheaper. TIME found that, nationwide, the average cell cost is $24,000/yr. and the maximum security cell cost is $75,000/yr. (as of12/95). Opponents claim that LWOP (life without parole) should replace the Death Penalty (DP). Therefore, any cost calculations should be based specifically on cell costs for criminals who have committed the exact same category of offense - in other words, cost comparisons are valid only if you compare the costs of DP-equivalent LWOP cases to the cost of DP cases. The $34,200/yr. cell cost assumes that only 20% of the DP-equivalent LWOP cases would be in maximum security cost cells and that 80% of the DP-equivalent LWOP cases would be in average cost cells. A very conservative estimate. The $60,000/yr. , for those on death row, assumes that such cells will average a cost equal to 80% of the $75,000/yr. for the most expensive maximum security cells. A very high estimate. Even though we are calculating a 75% greater cell cost for the DP than for equivalent LWOP cases, equivalent LWOP cases appear to be significantly more expensive, over time, than their DP counterparts. For years, opponents have improperly compared the cost of all LWOP cases to DP cases, when only the DP equivalent LWOP cases are relevant. Sub Point B: Life Sentencing proves more unjust then Capital Punishment. When it comes down to Texas's laws on Parole, once a person has served the "appropriate amount of years" in prison. Inmates are compensated with "good time," which is counted towards time served. For example, if an inmate served five years of a ten year prison term, and also had five years of "good time," they will have completed their sentence "on paper," obliging the state to release them. However, by keeping Capital Punishment, it removes those who are guilty of crimes being released again and receiving due punishment. In 1962, James Moore raped and strangled 14-year-old Pamela Moss. Her parents decided to spare Moore the death penalty on the condition that he be sentenced to life in prison without parole. Later on, thanks to a change in sentencing laws in 1982, James Moore is eligible for parole every two years. Kenneth McDuff, for instance, was convicted of the 1966 shooting deaths of two boys and the vicious rape-strangulation of their 16-year-old female companion. A Fort Worth jury ruled that McDuff should die in the electric chair, a sentence commuted to life in prison in 1972 after the U. S. Supreme Court struck down the death penalty as then imposed. In 1989, with Texas prisons overflowing and state officials under fire from the federal judiciary, McDuff was quietly turned loose on an unsuspecting citizenry. Within days, a naked body of a woman turned up. Prostitute Sarafia Parker, 31, had been beaten, strangled and dumped in a field near Temple. McDuff's freedom in 1989 was interrupted briefly. Jailed after a minor racial incident, he slithered through the system and was out again in 1990. I will know move on and address my opponents case and his flaws. My opponents contention one is completely flawed. He provides statements with some good wording, yet he provides no statistics, or facts, or anything at all. On top of that, he provides no sources either. While Texas may execute innocent, they were found guilty by the court and it was not the courts fault, but rather the fault of the forensics within the investigation for not appropriately getting a correct answer the first time. Texas doesn't just mindlessly execute citizens, which is what my opponent tries to state. His contention two falls because I have provided evidence to support that, in fact, Capital Punishment does deter crime from the supporting graph and statistics in my first contention. This also goes against his sub point, stating "Capital Punishment won't deter many murderers. " Once again, I have provided evidence and facts to negate his statements. Lastly, his contention three is a contradiction to my sub point B of contention two. Prisoners won't remain in prison, but in fact be released on parole to commit the same crimes as before. There is no justice in that, and even though an innocent may be wrongful executed, but could possibly save the lives of many more. In J. J. Rousseau's The Social Contract written in 1762, he says the following: Again, every rogue who criminously attacks social rights becomes, by his wrong, a rebel and a traitor to his fatherland. By contravening its laws, he ceases to be one of its citizens: he even wages war against it.