Death Penalty

Error: Humans are too prone to error to decide who should receive the sentence of capital punishment •The fear that an innocent person might be executed has long haunted jurors and lawyers and judges. During America's Colonial period, dozens of crimes were punishable by death, including horse thievery, blasphemy, "man-stealing," and highway robbery. After independence, the number of crimes eligible for the death penalty was gradually reduced, but doubts persisted over whether legal procedures were sufficient to prevent an innocent person from being executed. In 1868, John Stuart Mill made one of the most eloquent defenses of capital punishment, arguing that executing a murderer did not display a wanton disregard for life but, rather, proof of its value. "We show, on the contrary, most emphatically our regard for it by the adoption of a rule that he who violates that right in another forfeits it for himself," he said. For Mill, there was one counterargument that carried weight—"that if by an error of justice an innocent person is put to death, the mistake can never be corrected" (Grann, David, 2009). •Seventeen people have been exonerated by DNA testing in the United States after serving time on death row. These seventeen people have served a combined 209 years in prison – including 187 years on death row for crimes they did not commit ("The Innocent and the Death Penalty", n.d.). •At least 130 men and women who have been released from death row after evidence revealed they were not guilty of the crimes of which they were accused ("Innocent Lives in the Balance", n.d.) •"In Nebraska, since 1973, nearly 64% of all death penalty trials have been reversed because of error requiring a new trial or new sentencing proceeding" ("Innocent Lives in the Balance", n.d.). •In 2000, after thirteen people on death row in Illinois were exonerated, George Ryan, who was then governor of the state, suspended the death penalty. Though he had been a long time advocate of capital punishment, he declared that he could no longer support a system that has "come so close to the ultimate nightmare—the state's taking of innocent life." Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has said that the "execution of a legally and factually innocent person would be a constitutionally intolerable event" (Grann, David, 2009). •In his 2002 book "The Death Penalty," Stuart Banner observes, "The prospect of killing an innocent person seemed to be the one thing that could cause people to rethink their support for capital punishment. Some who were not troubled by statistical arguments against the death penalty—claims about deterrence or racial disparities—were deeply troubled that such an extreme injustice might occur in an individual case" (Grann, David, 2009). •Most indigent inmates, who constitute the bulk of those on death row, lack the resources to track down new witnesses or dig up fresh evidence. They must depend on court-appointed lawyers, many of whom are "unqualified, irresponsible, or overburdened," as a study by the Texas Defender Service, a nonprofit organization, put it. In 2000, a Dallas Morning News investigation revealed that roughly a quarter of the inmates condemned to death in Texas were represented by court-appointed attorneys who had, at some point in their careers, been "reprimanded, placed on probation, suspended or banned from practicing law by the State Bar" (Grann, David, 2009). •"Unavoidably, different courts, prosecutors, defense lawyers, judges and juries produce different penalties even when crimes seem comparable" (van den Haag, 1985, p. 306). •As the former Nebraska governor, Frank B. Morrison, Sr. puts it, "I have known many presidents, governors, judges, legislators, and policymakers—including myself—and have never known a person wise enough to decide who should live and who should die" ("The Death Penalty in Nebraska", n.d.). Cost: Death penalty cases cost taxpayers an excessive amount of money each year. •In New Jersey alone, the state spent $253 million on the death penalty system between 1983 and 2007, executing a total of 0 inmates (Hargesheimer and Ruchala, 2008, pg. 1) •"The average cost of a single death penalty case, from arrest to execution, ranges from $1 million to $3 million. oOther studies have estimated this cost as high as $7 million (Davidsaver, 2007, pg. 1). •The average cost for a case of life-imprisonment is roughly $500,000 (Davidsaver, 2007, pg. 1). •The state of Texas has the least amount of protections and a fast process, but still has high costs. oDeath penalty sentences totals to three times more than 40 years of life in maximum security prison. •In Nebraska between 1973 and 1999, taxpayers paid the cost of 89 cases of death penalty. o95% are now sentenced with life imprisonment, adding the cost of life imprisonment to the death penalty trial costs. ("Wasteful and Inefficient", n.d.) •"Each execution in Nebraska since 1973 is conservatively estimated to have cost $15 million. •"A study found that the costs of the death penalty are borne primarily by increasing taxes and decreasing services like police and highway spending, with county budgets bearing the brunt of the burden ("Wasteful and Inefficient", n.d.) •Recently in 2009, New Mexico's governor Bill Richardson signed a bill outlawing capital punishment in the state. Supporters say it will save the state over $1 million per year by replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment without parole (AFP). Inhumane: Lethal injection is an agonizing method of execution, and is in no way humane. •Lethal injection is the primary method of execution in the United States. oReplaces hanging, firing squad, gas chamber, and electrocution (PloS Medicine Editors, 2007, p. 603). o788 out of 956 people were executed by lethal injection since 1976 ("The Lancet, 005, p. 1361). •In 2006, 52 out of 53 executions in the United States were handled by lethal injection (PloS Medicine Editors, 2007, p. 603). •Three steps involved in lethal injection drug oSuppresses the breathing oParalyzes the body oElectrolyte potassium causes cardiac arrest (PloS Medicine Editors, 2007, p. 603). •Past data from PloS Medicine Editors has proven that the first two steps do not function properly. oThe victim asphyxiates while unconscious and unable to move (PloS Medicine Editors, 2007, p. 603). oDuring last step the victims feel the burning of the electrolyte potassium. oToxologist reports indicate that post-mortem thiopental blood concentration from 43 out of 49 (88%) executed inmates were lower than what you need for surgery, so 21 (43%) of the victims were awake ("The Lancet", 2005, p. 1361). oDr. Leonidas Koniaris of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine has found evidence that suggests that during the use of the three-drug lethal injection, "43% of prisoners might still be conscious, although totally paralyzed, when the potassium chloride rips through their veins on the way to stopping their heart" (Koniaris, as cited in "Amateur night", 2006). •"Hospira provides these products because they improve or save lives and markets them solely for use as indicated on the product labeling," Kees Groenhout, clinical research and development vice president, said in a March 31 letter to Ohio, obtained by the AP. "As such, we do not support the use of any of our products in capital punishment procedures" ("Lethal Injection" retrieved from http://www.amnestyusa.org... /page.do ?id=1101012). •A letter from Kees Groenhout, VP of Clinical Research and Development, Hospira, Inc. sent to State Departments of Correction (found @ http://www.amnestyusa.org... 9_24_ 2010.pdf) states that the company producing thiopental sodium does not condone the use of its drug in lethal injection.