I'm for it because sometimes they deserve it... There are people out there whose family gets
slaughtered. A life sentence in my opinion doesn't cut it for me.
1. Executions cost 4X more than a life sentence with free counsel for defense and appeals.
2. The innocent may be wrongly executed. Since the DP was reinstated in 1976, 82 inmates have been
freed. That's one wrongfully conviction for every 7 executed.
3. It is not a deterrent and crime rates have not gone down because of it. The murder rate in the US
is 6 times that of Britain and 5 times that of Australia. Neither country has the DP. Texas has
twice the murder rate of Wisconsin, a state that doesn't have the DP. Texas and Oklahoma have
executed the most inmates, yet both have murder rates higher than the national average.
4. Life imprisonment also guarantees no future crimes.
5. Many Death Row inmates were convicted while being defended by court-appointed lawyers who are
often the least-inexperienced lawyers.
6. It is no longer practiced in most sophisticated societies. The U.S. Is the last democracy to
permit the DP. The only nations that allow it are Communist, Fascist or Islamic Theocracies.
7. Death sentences are bestowed arbitrarily, not in a just manner. Gary Ridgway admitted to killing
48 prostitutes and runaways got life in prison. In Texas, Kelsey Patterson, was executed even after
the Board of Parole recommended clemency after learning of his schizophrenia.
07 Aug 2012 15:20
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