As many of you know the death penalty is a type of retribution that sentences individuals to death for the crimes they have committed. While this type of sentencing is held exclusively for offenses involving murder and rape, I still believe it isn’t in our countries best interest. While I do believe that crimes involving murder and rape should be prosecuted to the fullest extent, I don’t seem to agree on wasting our resources on killing inmates. The death penalty requires more use of our resources than the public thinks. While many people argue that the death penalty helps the government save money, it has been proven that the death penalty costs more money to follow through than housing a single inmate for their entire life. We spend so much money on the death penalty that Oregon Judicial Department would annually save 2.3 million dollars if the death penalty was eliminated.
Moving away from money, the death penalty effects many individuals in a negative way. Forcing correctional officers to kill inmates has resulted in mental illnesses like PTSD to arise. The moral code these individuals have lived by their entire life is put into question every time an inmate is sentenced to the death penalty. I don’t think it’s fair for our government to force these officers to follow through on these sentences. While vengeance is the most common reason why courts put individuals on death row, it has been shown that this type of retribution is helping the families of murder victims. Putting the murderer on death row hasn’t been able to heal families of the trauma they’ve encountered. Instead it has been shown that the longer time it takes for execution cases in the court system have prolonged the agony of the families. If we instead directed the money we’re using on death penalty to counseling victim’s families, the trauma would be reduced.
I believe that removing the death penalty will be beneficial to our country. While many believe the death penalty is deterring crime, evidence supports that states with no death penalty implemented have lower murder rates than state whom use it. I believe it’s crucial for our government to decrease the amount of inmates on death row. The amount of money and hardships saved will make diminishing the death penalty more appealing as time goes on.
Please comment your opinion on the death penalty!