Against Capital Punishment Capital Punishment, Term Paper

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There is no appeals process after death.

The death penalty is also an ineffective crime-fighting tool. There is no correlation between instituting the death penalty and a lower crime rate. The Death Penalty Information web site: (http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/)supports this, noting as well that in many states, non-capital crimes are punishable by death, such as "capital sexual battery" in Florida. (the Death Penalty, 2005, (http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=144&scid=10)Logically, the notion of the death penalty as deterrence seems irrational, given that even crime depicted in "The Life of David Gale" would not be deterred by the death penalty. The film revolves around the tale of David Gale, a college professor in Texas, who is accused of murder and rape of a fellow activist. The film takes place while Gale is on death row, recounting his final testimony for a curious reporter. Even if Gale were guilty, which he is not, the crime is not one which death could act as a deterrent. The alleged crime is motivated by passion as much as premeditation, according to Gale's accusers. Gale claims to have been framed by right-wing supporters of capital punishment because his death via the arm of the state would be ironic, but the real irony is Gale's supposed cold-blooded killing demonstrates that the death penalty is not a deterrent to those who would murder others, any more than the other option of death in prison.

Thus, the death penalty is morally indefensible from a Judeo-Christian ethical framework, and there is no statistical or moral defense of its ability to deter crime. It is also often applied in an arbitrary fashion.

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A major study of 1,936 indictments reported to the Ohio Supreme Court by Ohio counties with capital cases from October 1981 through 2002, the Associated Press found that defendants facing a death penalty charge for killing a white person were twice as likely to be sentenced to death than defendants charged with killing a black person. "This gross disparity in capital sentencing sends a message that the taking of a white life is more serious than the taking of a black life." (the Death Penalty, 2005, (http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/)it is, one might add, also more expensive to try an individual for a capital offense. Capital murder trials are "longer and more expensive at every step compared to other murder trials. In fact, the available data indicated that in capital trials, taxpayers pay half again as much as murder cases in which prosecutors seek prison terms rather than the death penalty," and the subsequent appeals process is so costly as well that it is actually cheaper to incarcerate someone for life than to execute them. (the Death Penalty, 2005, (http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=108&scid=7)

Financially, constitutionally, morally, and legally, the death penalty simply does not make sense. One need not be swayed by individual examples such as David Gale's to be convinced of this -- even cold, hard facts and figures show that America is standing increasingly alone in the world community as a supporter of the death penalty.

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