Executions be replaced by life without parole Essay

In criminal law, life sentence or life without parole means putting to jail somebody for the rest of his/her life for the crimes committed whereas death sentence means executing those criminals who are found guilty of committing some very serious crimes like murder, attempted coup or raping. Myself I am not an advocate of capital sentence but I support life sentence. Life without parole is also known as determinate life sentence. It means being sentenced to life imprisonment without any possibility of being released in future. American government spends a lot of money by executing criminals than it spends in giving life sentence. For this reason and others I think executions in America should be replaced by life without parole. Execution in Texas is not something new. In 1980 there were two men who were alleged to have killed a clerk somewhere, both of them fired shots at the clerk but it is not clear who exactly killed the clerk though both of them admitted to have fired at the clerk. To the corridors of justice it did not matter whether it was one of them or both who killed so long as they agreed to have fired and killed the clerk. One of these men was called Mr. Nicholas he was twenty years old when he was arrested but was executed when he was forty five years old. In this case, I don’t think justice was done. This is a good example of many cases where justice is not allowed to take its course. The state should have tried to establish who between the two killed the clerk. In a case like this one a person who is innocent can be killed and he is not given a chance to argue his case. Therefore on this basis I condemn execution of prisoners instead, they should be given life sentence. This is the only practical thing and reasonable method whereby the offenders can be given time to reassess themselves. Again they continue living though they are not necessarily free. About half of the total criminals who are executed in America come from Texas. It has the highest number of executions in America. It contravenes one of the Ten Commandments that Moses was given by God In the past, capital sentence was highly valued but of late it is not. In fact many states in USA have abolished it. In the past decades the argument was that capital sentence deters crime, it was a religious conviction or what is called the Law of Moses an ‘eye for an eye’ or ‘tooth for a tooth’. It was also thought that the states were spending huge sums of money feeding, clothing and providing healthcare for murderers, rapists and other dangerous criminals. This seemed to be silly and outrageous but now the argument has changed. In fact the former supporters of capital sentence are now singing a different tune. Today, the argument is that USA is finding it very expensive to execute criminals than to jail them for life. Surely, this is something that any sensible person should see. All states should awake to the fact that USA is wasting a lot of money in executing criminals instead of using this money on development projects that can benefit all. For example in North Carolina (Gold R. 2002; 89) about two million dollars are spent on effecting execution. When you compare capital sentence and life sentence, a person sentenced for life only needs to be fed, clothed, treated and guarded. Therefore it is cheaper to life imprison than to execute. The reasons why capital sentence should be abolished are that, the death row convicts spend a lot of money trying to fight for their freedom. They must hire lawyers who charge them exorbitantly so that they could argue about their fate, the process of appealing has become more protracted. Like in the case mentioned above, the convict spent about 25 years in jail before his life was terminated. Justice delayed is justice denied. The state spent alot of money to keep him than it could have spent if he was jailed for life. The reason why the execution process is long is that an innocent person may sometimes be executed. Therefore a lot of time is taken to dig in for finer details that could prove beyond reasonable doubts that the person alleged to have committed the crime really did it. According to the governor of Maryland his country spent 22. 4 million US dollars to execute death penalties. This money could have been used to pay at least 500 extra policemen a year or provide drugs for treating 10,000 drug addicts. He said when this money is used on other projects that are useful apart from executing law breakers, it becomes an investment that save lives and reduce violent crimes (www. Amnestyusa. Org;/Abolish) Most of the methods used to carry out death penalties should be abolished for they contravene human rights. A person is subjected to a very nasty experience that even the executors could not like to imagine themselves in. For example in lethal injections, a person is subjected to excruciating pain. The poison is injected to the criminal. It contains pancoronium bromide for killing his nerves and potassium chloride which is used to stop the heart beat. Sometimes the dose injected might not be enough or not well mixed. In such a case the victim takes longer than it should to die. The prisoner dies in intense pain from asphyxiation. For example there was a case in Florida whereby the executor missed to inject the drug in a vein and put it in the muscle. The victim died after 34th minute. During this period the victim writhed, grimaced and groaned suggesting that he was in pain. Another instance that shows that capital sentence violates human rights is of Saddam Hussein; the former president of Iraq. He was executed on 30th December 2006 during his execution, when the platform dropped, Saddam’s neck was broken and it could be heard at a distance that indeed his neck was broken. His body was left suspended on the noose for a few minutes before it was confirmed by the doctor that he was dead. The actual pictures were posted on the internet are horrific. The crimes he committed could not be compensated by his life plus the amount of money that was spent since his search begun trial and execution. According to (Baicker K. 2001; 12-27) more than 100 billion US dollars were spent. All this money was spent just because of one person. His trial was complicated and protracted. The much that was spent on his trial was more than what could have been used to keep him alive for the rest of life or be used to take care of other prisoners. Another reason why I am an ardent supporter of life sentence over capital sentence is that the criminals who are executed are like any other citizens who contribute to the economic. They play vital role in the economy. Some of them are even businessmen, doctors, teachers etc. The part they played could not be played by another person. So when a person is executed, the nation at large goes at a loss. These people could be taken to prison hospitals, schools and other businesses to offer their services there until they die and these people are not paid so, it is like killing two birds with one stone. States should also know that most of these criminals who are executed, some of them are highly educated and have different professions. The state has used a lot of its resources in educating them. Thus instead of taking all this money to waste, it should take advantage of their education by reaping some benefits from it instead of incurring a double loss. That is by trying and executing somebody whom the state has invested its resources on. Governments should reconsider their decision on capital sentence by trying to look this issue from an economist stand point. While still on this topic, I think USA should look and analyze capital sentence from an economic perspective. For example when a criminal who is the sole breadwinner is executed, his/her family lands in a sea of troubles. A family that was capable of providing itself with food starts depending on the government to provide to it everything that it needs. This becomes a burden to the government because it has to increase its budgetary allocation on the orphans funds and other unfortunate members of the society. Currently, US government spends les on poor families. I think it is because of many reasons abolition of capital sentence included. I think if it could be used as in the past decades, this cost would amazingly go up In California (Maganini S. 1988; 750-902) death penalty spends 114 million US dollars which is more than what is spent on life sentence. In executions according to the 2005 Los Angeles times study, California tax payers part with more than 250 US million dollars to finance a single execution. This government spends 11. million dollars on appointed counsel for those convicts who are in the death row and 12 million US dollars are spent by the federal government on defending death row convicts who are presented to federal courts. In 2005 according to the governor of California (Los Angeles Times) he needed 230 million US dollars to construct a new death row. In Kansas it was estimated that in 2003, its government used 70% more than the cost of executing other non-death penal ties. With all facts and figures put on the table, I do not think there is any person who can still argue for the continuity of death penalty. It is costly, unfair and inconsequential.