Morals of Executions

[Optimistic Mysanthrope]

WASHINGTON--The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday it would hear a death row appeal from a Florida man ruled mentally disabled in 1992 but later found competent to be executed after he scored 71 on an IQ test, the minimum under state law.

Not dumb enough to fail, not smart enough to fail on purpose. Unlucky

[Minimalist]

There has been good evidence from various US state prison systems that capital punishment (its current implementations anyway) doesn't even have the merit of being financially beneficial. California in fact took billions of dollars worth hit explicitly because of their system of capital punishment.

I don't have any numbers to support this, but wouldn't killing people who have been sentenced to life in prison be more cost effective than supporting them to old age with food, shelter, medication, entertainment (tvs) etc? just a thought.

No. Not by a long shot.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/se...=firefox-a

In 2009, a budget deficit in thirty-one states gave a boost to any measure thought to save money, including the abolition of the death penalty. In New Mexico, supporters thought that this financial situation created a favorable atmosphere in which to advance their cause. Governor Richardson, who had supported the death penalty as a member of the U.S. Congress and opposed abolishing it in past years, said he was keeping an open mind. It was believed the governor supported abolition of the death penalty partly because of the cost. According to State Legislatures magazine, New Mexico's Supreme Court spends up to $700,000 on appeals in a typical death penalty case on; only 7 percent of death penalty cases result in a death sentence, while 68 percent are overturned on appeal, the highest rate in the United States.

Supporters argued that abolishing the death penalty would save states money in legal fees that would have been spent on cases challenging the death penalty, while opponents said the legal fees would still be paid because of trials brought by inmates contesting life in prison. A report released by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) found that states and localities can save millions of dollars by abolishing the death penalty. In the 1990s, the number of death sentences handed out each year in the United States was approximately 300, and more recently, that number has decreased to 115 per year. The number of executions is falling at a similar rate. According to the DPIC, 2009 was set to end with the lowest number of executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Richard Dieter, the DPIC's executive director, said, “The death penalty is turning into a very expensive form of life without parole… . At a time of budget shortfalls, the death penalty cannot be exempt from reevaluation alongside other wasteful government programs that no longer make sense.”

[Owlix]

There has been good evidence from various US state prison systems that capital punishment (its current implementations anyway) doesn't even have the merit of being financially beneficial. California in fact took billions of dollars worth hit explicitly because of their system of capital punishment.

I don't have any numbers to support this, but wouldn't killing people who have been sentenced to life in prison be more cost effective than supporting them to old age with food, shelter, medication, entertainment (tvs) etc? just a thought.

If that was the case you'd be absolutely right.
But if that was the case there'd also be the argument "Why bother with lethal injection? A bullet costs a quarter".... the process is what's so expensive. Trial, pre trial, sentencing, in addition to the actual time their in prison. But to my knowledge death row doesn't mean 'You are sentenced to death!' and shuffled off for your last meal and haircut. There's time involved there, although I haven't researched the typical prison time someone spends before actually getting executed.

---

Although I didn't know it was quite like this...

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/time-death-row

And I wonder how many on death row were given this punishment for something involuntary..... alternately, on death row and didn't even kill anyone.

[Zazzy]

Just the fact that we have executed innocent people is enough to make the whole project horrifying. I'd rather let a monster live than kill an innocent person, and our legal and forensic systems are not sophisticated enough (and may never be) to rule out such terrible errors. That's all the moral ground I need to reject capital punishment.

[freedomfromforum]

Is This Post A Form Of Capital Punishment, Or Is It Merely Capital Abuse?

[Bob Kelso]

I oppose the death penalty for the sole reason that I would rather let a murderer live than put an innocent wo/man to death. If such mistakes didn't happen then it would be fine by me, but we are prone to mistake so that's not the case.

[Polaris]

I am against executions and especially cheering for them/..I view it as barbaric and I view disdainfully those in my university who chose to watch Sadaam's execution or those who later cheered at the White House when bin Laden was killed.

[Minimalist]

Yes, that was unseemly.

[Sejanus]

No. Not by a long shot.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/se...=firefox-a

In 2009, a budget deficit in thirty-one states gave a boost to any measure thought to save money, including the abolition of the death penalty. In New Mexico, supporters thought that this financial situation created a favorable atmosphere in which to advance their cause. Governor Richardson, who had supported the death penalty as a member of the U.S. Congress and opposed abolishing it in past years, said he was keeping an open mind. It was believed the governor supported abolition of the death penalty partly because of the cost. According to State Legislatures magazine, New Mexico's Supreme Court spends up to $700,000 on appeals in a typical death penalty case on; only 7 percent of death penalty cases result in a death sentence, while 68 percent are overturned on appeal, the highest rate in the United States.

Supporters argued that abolishing the death penalty would save states money in legal fees that would have been spent on cases challenging the death penalty, while opponents said the legal fees would still be paid because of trials brought by inmates contesting life in prison. A report released by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) found that states and localities can save millions of dollars by abolishing the death penalty. In the 1990s, the number of death sentences handed out each year in the United States was approximately 300, and more recently, that number has decreased to 115 per year. The number of executions is falling at a similar rate. According to the DPIC, 2009 was set to end with the lowest number of executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Richard Dieter, the DPIC's executive director, said, “The death penalty is turning into a very expensive form of life without parole… . At a time of budget shortfalls, the death penalty cannot be exempt from reevaluation alongside other wasteful government programs that no longer make sense.”

Point taken, but it seems to me the death penalty system is grossly inefficient;

For example, California, which has the nation's largest number of people on death row, has carried out eleven executions since 1978, at an average cost of $250 million per person.

Are they using fucking diamond encrusted needles or something? If they streamlined the system to reduce court fees, perhaps it could be viable.

[bennyboy]

No. Not by a long shot.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/se...=firefox-a

Point taken, but it seems to me the death penalty system is grossly inefficient;

For example, California, which has the nation's largest number of people on death row, has carried out eleven executions since 1978, at an average cost of $250 million per person.

Are they using fucking diamond encrusted needles or something? If they steamlined the system to reduce court fees, perhaps it could be viable.

Right. How much does a length of rope cost? Or a bullet?

The cost of the death penalty is clearly moral, not financial.