The Death Penalty

I argue that the Death Penalty has an overall negative effect on society. I Propose that: 1) Death is cruel and unusual, no matter what the crime was or what method of execution is used. Here are two examples of botched executions: April 22, 1983 Alabama John Evans Electrocution: After the first jolt of electricity, sparks and flames erupted from the electrode attached to Evans's leg. The electrode burst from the strap holding it in place and caught on fire. Smoke and sparks also came out from under the hood in the vicinity of Evans's left temple. Two physicians entered the chamber and found a heartbeat. The electrode was reattached to his leg, and another jolt of electricity was applied. This resulted in more smoke and burning flesh. Again the doctors found a heartbeat. Ignoring the pleas of Evans's lawyer, a third jolt of electricity was applied. The execution took 14 minutes and left Evans's body charred and smoldering. April 23, 1998 Texas Joseph Cannon Lethal Injection: It took two attempts to complete the execution. After making his final statement, the execution process began. A vein in Cannon's arm collapsed and the needle popped out. Seeing this, Cannon lay back, closed his eyes, and exclaimed to the witnesses, "It's come undone." Officials then pulled a curtain to block the view of the witnesses, reopening it fifteen minutes later when a weeping Cannon made a second final statement and the execution process resumed. There are a total of 42 botched executions listed on the Death Penalty Information Center website. According to Avalon Project database, the eighth amendment states: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. http://avalon.law.yale.edu... http://deathpenaltyinfo.org... 2) Overall the Death Penalty costs more to maintain rather than the life sentence in prison. Capital punishment cases go through several appeals costing millions of dollars, and of those cases only a few actually receive the death penalty. According to Independent Weekly, IDS is a publicly funded agency that provides private attorneys for defendants charged with capital crimes, but cannot afford a lawyer. Of 733 defendants in North Carolina that IDS represented, less than 3%, or around 20 people received the death penalty. However , millions of tax dollars still went into each of those cases. Independent Weekly also stated that North Carolina spent an additional $36 million dollars between 2001 and 2008 on the death penalty that could have been used elsewhere if the life in prison was the sentence used for heinous crimes. http://www.indyweek.com... 3) The Death Penalty has no proof of being a deterrent. According to the Death Penalty Information Center the U.S. Murder rate per 100,000 people has been fairly constant at around 5.5 to 5.7 per year. However, according to the Canadian Coalition against the Death penalty, Canada, which does not use the death penalty has had a rate around 1.9 to 2.2 over the past few years. Also, according to Speak Out .com, since the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1977, 552 people have been executed. That averages about one person every 22 days, so clearly the death penalty has no evidence of a deterrent to heinous crimes. http://deathpenaltyinfo.org... http://www.ccadp.org... http://speakout.com... 4) Many people have been executed innocently and obviously cannot be "released", however if life imprisonment was the preferred method of punishment they could be released. Although I do not have list of these cases there are 139 people listed on the Death Penalty Information Center for people who have been released from Death Row. (And not a moment to soon!) http://deathpenaltyinfo.org...