There are many problems facing our criminal justice system today.  Some of the more important ones are overcrowded jails, the increasing murder rate, and keeping tax payers content.  In light of these problems, I think the death penalty is our best and most reasonable solution because it is a highly effective deterrent to murder.  And, tax payers would be pleased to know that their hard-earned tax dollars are not being wasted on supporting incorrigible criminals who are menaces to society.  In addition, they would not be forced to fund the development of new penitentiaries in order to make room for the growing number of inmates in our already overcrowded jails.  Moreover, the death penalty would serve to curb the growth of future crimes and consequently the number of inmates would also be reduced.  Thus, overcrowding in federal and state penitentiaries would be eliminated.  In this essay, I will discuss these ideas and prove why capital punishment is the best viable solution to the problems plaguing our criminal justice system.

          Capital punishment could solve our problem with the increasing murder rate because it serves a highly effective deterrent.  “The death penalty deters murder by putting the fear of death into would be killers. A person is less likely to do something, if he or she thinks that harm will come to him” (Studyworld 1).  This fear of death is the key to reducing the murder rate.  Frank G. Carrington informs us that

     Louis Joseph Turck..., an ex-convict with a felony   record dating from 1941, was arrested May 20, 1961 for   robbery.  He had used guns in prior robberies in other     states but only pretended to be carrying a gun in the    robbery here [California].  He told investigating    officers that he was aware of the California death penalty, although he had been in the state for only   one month, and when asked about the gun bluff he said:     ‘I knew that if I used a real gun and that if I shot      someone in a robbery, I might get the death penalty     and go to the gas chamber.’ (94)

 

The possibility of losing his life under California’s death penalty prevented Louis Joseph Turck and others from taking the life of another.  “The death penalty makes would be capital offenders think about weather committing a crime is really worth their lives” (Studyworld 3).  Hence, capital punishment is the best solution to the increase in murder problem.

          Capital punishment is the best solution to the problem of overcrowded jails because all “lifers” would be sent to death row and executed.  These “lifers” would no longer require a cell or take up space in an already crowded jail.  This removal of “lifers” helps alleviate the congestion in jails because it creates vacancies in cells for convicts serving lighter sentences.  For example, a federal penitentiary can accommodate on average 300 hardened criminals.  If all convicts with life sentences, 50, were to be removed, a more manageable 250 convicts would remain in a less congested penitentiary.  Clearly, the death penalty is the best way to eliminate overcrowded jails.      

          In addition to eliminating overcrowded jails, Capital punishment is also the best way to keep tax payers content.  The death penalty satisfies tax payers because it is a very cost efficient way to curb the number of inmates sentenced to life without parole.  Under the death penalty, these felons would be executed at a price cheaper than supporting them in jail for life.  These executions are a good because they save tax dollars in more than one way.  One the one hand, the death penalty saves tax dollars from being spent on supporting convicts in jail as they live out their sentences.  On the other hand, it also saves tax dollars from being spent on the construction of more state and federal prisons.   Jacobs, Landers, and Siegel discover that

     [i]ntroducing life imprisonment without parole would      probably require a huge prison construction program.     In 1993, according to the Edna McConnell Clark    Foundation..., the costs of construction averaged      $78,000 per bed for federal penitentiaries and $54,209    per bed for state prisons.  Currently, building one    prison cell costs approximately $100,000 without   considering the interest paid on the bonds passed for      prison construction.  The Criminal Justice Institute...estimated that the states [without the      death penalty] spent a daily average of $52.38 per inmate in 1993(more than $19,000 annually). (80)       

 

With the establishment of the death penalty, the government could use the saved tax dollars in other ways that could actually benefit the tax payers.  Clearly, the death penalty is in the best interest of the tax payers and will keep them satisfied.

          Thus, the death penalty is our best and most reasonable solution for the problems of overcrowded jails, the increasing murder rate, keeping tax payers, and the other problems facing out criminal justice system.  As we have seen, it can serve as a deterrent and reduce the murder rate.  In addition, the death penalty would fee up space in overcrowded state and federal prisons.  Moreover, it satisfies tax payers because it requires less tax money and can eliminate the need for additional prisons.  Hence, capital punishment should be instituted everywhere.          

         

         

                     

 

 

 

 

 

Works Consulted

 

 

“Benefits of Capital Punishment.” Studyworld. 20 Nov. 2002      <http://www.studyworld.com/moral_issues/capital_punish     ment/benefits_of_capital_punishment.htm>.

 

Carrington, Frank G. Neither Cruel nor Unusual. New York:     Arlington House Publishers, 1978.

 

 

Jacobs, Nancy R, Alison Landers, and Mark A. Siegel, eds.     Capital Punishment - Cruel and Unusual?. 1979-1996.     7th ed. Texas: Information Plus, 1996.