A07 Definition Argument by ohearnj8

Posted on November 13, 2015 by ohearnj8

Many believe the death penalty is cheapest way to get rid of some of the worst criminals there are but many would be incorrect. Capital punishment is a very big issue that has been brought to light in our country over the last fifty years or so.  The biggest argument on this topic is not the moral problems but the cost of using this type of punishment. We are finding out now that it is actually cheaper to keep the prisoners locked away for life than to execute them. According to a former jurist from California named Donald McCartin, he says, “It’s 10 times more expensive to kill than to keep them alive”. The problem inlying with many states that still use the death penalty is that many of the politicians do not know the statistics behind the costs.

According to a study done by the LA times it costs the tax payers an extra 114 million more a year in California to keep someone on death row compared to life in prison. California has only executed about 11 people over the last 27 years. Take costs for each execution and it is around $250 million per inmate paid by the tax payers of California. For something that is morally wrong and very expensive many politicians fight to keep it.

It can be over 20 years after sentencing to the death penalty that it actually occurs. It takes years of legal battles and drawn out appeals in court. New Jersey recently banned the death penalty for this issue alone back in 2007. It was estimated that the average cost for the death penalty is around 4.2 million for each execution case yet none were actually executed. It has been found that in California it costs an extra 90,000 dollars more per inmate to house someone on death row. States are facing many budget cuts and can not afford to use the death penalty anymore and are as a result are abolishing capital punishment. States have hundreds who have been sentenced to death yet in the United States last year under 50 inmates were executed.

Giving someone life without parole compared to the death penalty creates many opportunities for the inmates to be exonerated of charges. With new technology being used in crime labs it gives the inmate the right sentence. The death penalty has killed many that actually weren’t guilty of the crime but were charged with the crime. It has been found after the person is put to death that the truth is found about who actually committed the crime. The United States is one of few that still practice the death penalty, other have been able to see what we can not.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-03-07-exepensive-to-execute_N.htm

http://deathpenalty.org/article.php?id=42

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/federal-death-row-prisoners

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2 Responses to A07 Definition Argument by ohearnj8

  1. ohearnj8 says:
    November 13, 2015 at 9:34 am

    Feedback was requested.

    Feedback provided.
    —DSH

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  2. davidbdale says:
    November 23, 2015 at 9:18 pm

    OK, ohearnj, let’s rock.

    P1. Economy of style may not be important to you, but if you want to consider a time-honored technique that adds authority to your voice (which, after all, since we’re not Justices of the Supreme Court, is the only authority we have), compare this paragraph to your own:

    Many believe the death penalty is cheapest way to get rid of some of the worst criminals there are but many would be incorrect. Capital punishment is a very big issue that has been brought to light in our country over the last fifty years or so. The biggest argument on this topic is not the moral problems but the cost of using this type of punishment. We are finding out now that it is actually cheaper to keep the prisoners locked away for life than to execute them. According to a former jurist from California named Donald McCartin, he says, “It’s 10 times more expensive to kill than to keep them alive”. The problem inlying with many states that still use the death penalty is that many of the politicians do not know the statistics behind the costs.

    OR:

    For fifty years opponents of the death penalty have failed to eliminate the practice with moral arguments. Advocates insist capital punishment is worth bending a few scruples because of its deterrent effect. But if politicians knew that for death row inmates, “It’s 10 times more expensive to kill than to keep them alive,” they might finally grow a conscience.

    Said another way, your sentences have weak subjects and verbs.
    1. death penalty is
    2. Capital punishment is
    3. The biggest argument on this topic is not
    4. it is actually cheaper
    5. It’s 10 times more expensive
    6. The problem is

    The revised paragraph substitutes:
    1. Opponents have failed
    2. Advocates insist
    3. Politicians knew
    4. They might grow

    P2. Not sure your numbers make sense. $114 million MORE A YEAR compared to LIFE IN PRISON. Comparing a year to a life? $250 million to execute means what? $250M to finance execution day? Two years in jail at $114 per year = $228M, close enough? But surely death row inmates spend more than 2 years in jail before execution. These questions will nag at careful readers. They won’t listen to anything else until you explain.

    P3. “For this issue” means New Jersey banned the death penalty because of the cost and inconvenience? You need to find the language legislators made when debating that measure or writing that legislation. Find the law. It will be very powerful language against the death penalty. More number oddities. Following the P2 claim of $114 million per year, we now compare “an extra 90,000 dollars” for no particular time period.

    P4. True, and building prisons with more and unlocked doors would create more “opportunities for the inmates to leave jail earlier too.” Why is getting them out of jail faster a goal?

    Surprising to see moral arguments here, ohearnj. You might be better off sticking with the economic proof that capital punishment is a terrible waste of precious government resources. Even if we manage to exonerate a wrongly-convicted inmate after 20 years of appeals, that $114 million (per year or even per sentence) could have funded countless life-affirming, even life-saving governments programs.

    Anything helpful here, ohearnj?
    Reply, please.

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