Wrongful Convictions and Economic Catastrophe

Capital punishment is one of the innumerable controversial concerns barely discussed in politics and considerably debated amongst society. This contentious dispute is purposely hidden by politicians and ignorantly debated amongst the people. It might even be one of those matters that will continue to be unsettled in the entire country. Current states implementing the death sentence as a form of punishment are Georgia, California, and Florida. Many people agree with the execution as a punishment for the crime committed. Ideally, if criminals are aware of the possibility of a death penalty, then people would be less likely to commit a crime. This might not necessarily be the case in any of the states that enforces such cruel and unusual punishment, as some may address it. People continue to premeditate and execute their criminal actions.

If a man rapes and kills a nine year old girl, people will more likely believe that this man should not only be raped, but killed as well; an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Others would counteract this hypothetical scenario by standing on the grounds that no human, not even the government, should play God. Some of the reasons people are in favor of the death penalty is to punish crimes like bombing an elementary school, a popular marathon, or even a terrorist attack against the nation. Not much thought is needed to conclude that such criminal offenders should indeed be executed. This would serve as a method to eliminating criminals and to show others what might happen as a consequence to criminal behavior. Some people believe that the death of the criminal might serve as a form of compensation and personal healing to the families of the victim.

Another basis in which people stand against capital punishment is that of religious believes. Many believe that only God should decide one’s death. Of course, this can be easily rebutted by commenting on the act of the killing committed by the criminal. Many will say that if the president closes every speech with “God Bless America” and if the Bible is sworn upon in court, then the death penalty should not be an option to punishment based on one of the religious principles, “Thou shall not kill." While there are countless reasons to be in favor or against capital punishment, as the ones stated above, this paper will stand upon the view that the death penalty should be abolished due to wrongful convictions and economic catastrophe.

Basic Capital Punishment History

Capital punishment began 4,000 years ago when Jews were found committing a religious offense against the Christian faith. The death penalty is the act of killing and executing a criminal offender (Rooney, 2005). Some of the executions were applied by beheading, burning at stake, stoning, drowning, and by the short drop hanging method. Over five hundred years ago, people in Great Britain, Australia, and the United States were killed for crimes that are currently considered misdemeanors, such as petit theft (Rooney, 2005). Due to poor government regulations, people were executed without due process, as it was more economical for the countries to operate without prisons. Less than fifty percent of the countries in the world continue using the death penalty as punishment (Rooney, 2005). The countries that continue to execute criminals use methods of less pain, as it is believed that the psychological process that leads to the execution is sufficiently torturing.

The principle that the majority of the people focus on is whether the criminal deserves to be executed for the offense committed. In reality, the concept that is debatable is whether the government reserves the right to terminate people’s lives. This type of punishment is controversial in the United States based on the prohibited act stated on the Eight Amendment to the United States Constitution which prohibits the use of cruel and unusual punishment (Smith, 2008). An example of a recent sentence where capital punishment was applied is on the case of Gregg v. Georgia (Roensch, 2007). Capital punishment was overruled due to the non-violation of the eighth amendment’s constitutional rights, as the sentence applied was not considered cruel or unusual, in relation to the criminal offense committed

It is inevitable to argue against capital punishment without touching upon International Human Rights Law. As the people have the right to remain silent in an arrest, so does the people have the right to life. As further discussed in article three of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “no one shall be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment” (Baderin, 2010, p. 290). Although some people might argue that these statements were not referring to capital punishment, acts of electrocution, beheading, squad shooting, hanging, lethal injections, and the use of gas chambers are without a doubt, acts of torture and cruelty. Not only is the death penalty a cruel, unusual, and inhumane punishment, it is a violation to the International Human Rights Acts to the right to life.

Miscarriage of Justice

This paper also stands on the principle that, because capital punishment is an irrevocable act, it should not be included as a form of punishment. According to Judge Rackoff, the number of innocent people sentenced to death has increased compared to the amount previously estimated (Mandery. 2011). The fact that there was an amount of innocent deaths estimated is a testament to the inevitable fact that innocent people will be sentenced to death. This is what is known as the irrevocable act of a wrongful execution. Cameron Todd Willingham, Derek Rocco Barnabei, and David Wayne Spence are a mustard seed compared the number of wrongful executions (Stack, 2013). The criminal justice system is far from perfect and prohibiting someone’s right to life should not be decided by the government. Many families are left without a relative who was falsely accused and executed. Such families were left without the hope or possibility of their loved ones being liberated.

After a judge determines a sentence, the process of appealing to the Supreme Court is costly and extensive. It can take years before an inmate is allowed to present his/her case to the Supreme Court. Although the interval between the sentence and execution can be as long as twenty years, at times, it can be as little as two years. Oftentimes, the duration of an appeal’s process can last several years, which means that an inmate can and has been executed prior to having the opportunity to demonstrate his/her innocence once more. In some cases, evidence of DNA and false eye-witness testimony has proven the innocence of inmates sentenced to death long after the person has been executed.

In the past, these types of system errors might have been the rare exception to the rule; however, an increase in stories of inmates found innocent have risen after new forensic evidence reveal pertinent information to the inmate’s freedom. In the past thirty years, approximately 115 people have been wrongfully convicted and released prior to their execution date (McVeigh & Wolfer, 2004). Of course, the system will most probably provide monetary compensation for the individual’s time; however, this is much easier said that lived, as the government is not able to return the years of suffering isolation, degradation, and humiliation such person lost, due to a false eye-witness identification or forensics analysis.

Money, race, and nationality are also relevant in receiving an unbiased and fair trial by jury. If the accused is of low socio-economic status, dark-skin, and a minority, a biased and false sentence might determine the future of this person. In the state of Alabama, twenty-one out of twenty-three execution cases did not have a good representation of African Americans as part of the jury (Bedau, Adam, & Cassell, 2004). Specifically, thirty-five percent of the cases did not include one African American (Bedau et al., 2004). A jury arranged with one race, as oppose to a variety of races will more likely result in a biased and preconceived judgment on behalf of the African American on trial. This miscarriage of justice is probably less likely to be committed with a rich defendant, as this person will probably be represented by a private attorney. Also, if the accused is a White American, then he/she will more likely have more jurors in favor, than if this person was Africa American. These racial preferences are more likely to result in the sentence of an innocent person.

Economic Catastrophe

Capital punishment is one of the greatest financial burdens this country possesses. Over millions of dollars have been spent on punishing criminals. It only takes one capital punishment trial to deplete the country’s resources. While capital punishment is administered, workers are receiving pay cuts. For instance, Medicare doctors have been advised of a possible twenty-five percent pay deduction (Sahadi, 2013). According to the Treasury Direct Government’s website, the current total public outstanding debt is $17,149,154,023,335.85 (“Reports,” 2013). To provide an idea as to the country’s financial burden and the cost of implementing capital punishment for one person, this paper will review basic information on recent executions. One of the most current capital punishment cases was executed in the state of Arizona (“Execution List…,” 2013). Robert Jones was killed via lethal injection thirteen years after his sentence. This signifies that in addition to Jones’ death sentence, he was isolated and kept indoors for thirteen years.

Capital punishment might be associated to double jeopardy, where an individual cannot be charged for the same crime twice. In the case of the death penalty, the criminal is basically punished for the same crime twice, through solitary confinement and capital punishment. The longest interval between the sentence and execution in the current year of 2013 was thirty-five years. This punishment was administered to John Ferguson in the state of Florida (“Execution List…,” 2013). The list of executions pending continues for future years, as well as the millions of tax payer dollars spent to expense these executions. Although many people in the United States of America are against capital punishment, their tax monies are being used to expense this legalized act of killing. While this is a subject that is not discussed in political debates, the economic problem this form of punishment represents has affected the country as a whole. The purpose of such radical punishment is to reduce crime rates; however, the reduction of such statistics is less likely to occur via such deterrent method. Abolishing capital punishment might reduce and help fight crime. This change might occur based on the idea that crime leads to more crime. Conversely, less violent and radical punishments will more likely lead to less violence and crimes.

Police Departments have released police officers from the workforce. While monies are covering the expenses of execution, other criminals are being released prior to terminating their sentence. Early releases are more likely to result in a reoccurrence of a criminal act by the same individual. This might be related to the lack of funds available to expense education and the lifestyle of an inmate. To counteract the reduction of police officers in the workforce, the government should utilize the resources that are currently used to expense the process of capital punishment, to increase neighborhood police surveillance and correctional officers. Although some people might think that those individuals sentenced to the death penalty are few and far in between, the millions of dollars spent on each of these few people is exuberant.

A Suggested Alternative

This paper suggests that a more effective process should be administered to keep prisons actively moving. Instead of sentencing a criminal to capital punishment, other methods can be administered as punishment. Criminals were not born as delinquents and certain factors of nature versus nurture affected their upbringing. Based on this theory, an association is more likely to connect a child’s development and adult crime acts. Psychological and sociological assessments should be implemented to treat criminals, as oppose to the legal killing by the government.

Upon completion of the sentence, the inmate should be transferred to an institution that focuses on integrating criminals to society. This inmate would live in this institution for the amount of years sentenced by the original case judge or until half of their prison costs is paid. To closely monitor the inmate during activities outside of the institution, such as working at a job, he/she would wear an inmate ankle bracelet. Throughout their time in the institution, the individual would receive psychological and sociological treatments. After the inmate has completed this extensive section of their sentence and rehabilitation, he/she would be released to society.

The process suggested in this paper would serve many purposes. Firstly, this method would punish the criminal. Secondly, instead of occupying space on death row and then executed by the government, the offender would follow a treatment with the goal of becoming a productive being in society. Thirdly, it would reduce the tax payer funds used for the prisons, as the offender would repay half of his/her sentence. Finally, it would eliminate wrongful convictions.

Should all else fail, a life sentence might even be more economical and less of a financial burden to the economy. According to the Michigan Daily Newspaper, a study conducted in California revealed a total of $308 million spent per execution (Harwood, 2013). These numbers solely represent the state of California. Evidentially, these resources derive from federal and state taxes. Additionally, the same study exposed that a yearly approximation of $47,000 was used to expense an incarcerated convict. Conversely, an additional $90,000 was spent to keep a person on death row. Ultimately, these numbers led to a yearly debt of $137,000 per person on death row in the state of California alone. As a result, a sentence of life without parole might be a better alternative to capital punishment.

Conclusion

Up to the present day, capital punishment has been a debatable topic in the United States. Its controversies might not ever cease to exist, as substantial arguments can be made in favor or against it. This paper expressed the view that while several arguments exist in favor of the death penalty, capital punishment should be abolished as an option to punishment and crime control, due to miscarriage of justice and an economic disaster. Although this ultimate punishment is not executed as in previous times where religious crimes were committed and punished by death, methods of cruel and unusual punishment are still implemented. Additionally, the death penalty inflicts torture, cruel, and inhumane treatments, which are against the International Humans Rights Acts. Capital punishment is not about whether the criminal deserves to die; it is about whether the government reserves the authority to prohibit someone’s right to life. Additionally, this paper argued on the premises that capital punishment should be eradicated, due to its irrevocable nature. Finally, arguments presenting the financial burden capital punishment have and will continue to cause to the United States of America. An alternative process has been presented in an attempt to reduce crime rates. Also, adding police officers, as oppose to laying them off, might be a better substitute to reducing the crime rates locally and federally. This argument is presented with the purpose of saving the country’s debt and innocent lives.

References

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