Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should face the death penalty

Excellent! Now let's begin.1) What we know nowIf Tsarnaev is found guilty he will then be eligible for the death penalty. Massachusetts, the state where the crime was committed, does not have the death penalty. The Obama Administration said they will not try him as an enemy of the state but rather be tried in a civilian court. Therefore Tsarnaev cannot be proven a terrorist to the nation's security by definition.2) Cost of Death Penalty Case 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. Five executions have resulted. (Urban Institute, 2008). Maryland has since repealed the death penalty. In California the cost of the death penalty in the state has been over $4 billion since 1978. Study considered pre-trial and trial costs, costs of automatic appeals and state habeas corpus petitions, costs of federal habeas corpus appeals, and costs of incarceration on death row. (Alarcon & Mitchell, 2011).Enforcing the death penalty costs Florida $51 million a year above what it would cost to punish all first-degree murderers with life in prison without parole. Based on the 44 executions Florida had carried out since 1976, that amounts to a cost of $24 million for each execution. (Palm Beach Post, January 4, 2000).Why go through all the trouble, time, and cost to sentence a young man to death when you could just send him away for life? Wouldn't it be a greater punishment knowing everyday of your life you are going to stay there until you die. You already spend years on death row what is the difference?3) The death penalty does not prevent future crimesAccording to a survey of the former and present presidents of the country’s top academic criminological societies, 88% of these experts rejected the notion that the death penalty acts as a deterrent to murder. (Radelet & Lacock, 2009)Per 100,000 people in The South 5.5 of those people are murdered. The South accounts for 80% of death penalty states/executions. The murder rate in The Northeast is 3.9 and only accounts for 1% of death penalty states/executions.Shouldn't the goal of the Judicial System be that of preventing and reducing crime rather than punishing those who already commit them? There is a reason Prison used to be called Penitentiary4) Tamerlan TsarnaevWhy has everybody forgotten about the older brother? The partner in crime! Tamerlan has had a history of radical beliefs and suspicious activity. The Cambridge triple homicide anyone? Dzhokhar was a normal guy shown both on his social networking sites as well as being described by peers. His brother being 7 years older has a strong influence on his younger brother. Imagine the pressure and possible freight of your older brother saying he is going to make bombs and needs your help. Had Dzhokhar said no there might not be any living suspects. With his brother dead all the charges will fall on Dzhokhar even though he is only responsible for at most half the casualties.5) InnocenceA small chance indeed but a chance none the less. All the Prosecution has of hard evidence is a man putting a backpack down in a crowd of people. Whether that backpack contains a bomb is at the discretion of the court.6) Positive ImpactMany people, 80% to be exact, believe he should face death. I say nay nay. Imagine, "Boston Bomber escapes death." The movement for the abolishment of the death penalty will be that much closer to prevailing. The pressure on the court system will also be immense on whether to choose life or death. That pressure alone could suffice as a mitigating factor to the jury.7) Conclusion"In the end, this case is more likely to be about whether Tsarnaev lives or dies than about whether he is guilty of this monstrous crime. If he planted the bomb, Tsarnaev chose death. We should respond by choosing life." (Dershowitz 2013)* all sources in comments