Is it Worth the Moolah?

Many people would assume most peoples problems with the death penalty, morality...right? Many have a big issue over the cost of the death penalty. The editors acknowledge the issue about the price of the punishment because they want to convince each state of another different reason the death penalty should be banned. The New York Times recently released an article that argues that the cost of the lethal injection is a huge issue, that not only affects the government or the person being put to death, but also the community as a whole.

The New York Times asserts many facts about different states and their costs for completing the punishment of the death penalty. New York Times believes that the money should be spent elsewhere. They complain that the mass amounts of money are spent on the execution itself, high security and maintenance, and the long tedious appeals process which may take about fifteen to twenty years.

Personally, I believe that the cost of the execution is quite insane. The New York Times insists, "Perhaps the most extreme example is California, whose death row costs taxpayers $114 million a year beyond the cost of imprisoning convicts for life." This means the citizens of the state are paying for crimes committed by an individual. Yes, the community would be paying in taxes for the guilty persons life imprisonment, but in relation to the death sentence. the price of imprisonment just cannot compare.

Not does the New York Times claim only is the death penalty morally wrong, but they hope that the states will pay more attention to an economic view of the issue. It is argued in the article that, " If lawmakers cannot find the moral courage to abolish the death penalty, perhaps the economic case will persuade them to follow the lead of New Mexico." Morality may be argued differently between diverse groups of people, but money is money. Nobody wants to spend money that is not needed and is one-hundred percent preventable.

I agree with the economic standpoint that the death penalty is very costly, and that the taxpayers should not suffer do to an unrelated person proven guilty of a particular murder. Morality though, is seen differently by every person of a society so it is hard to say what is right or wrong, but cost is not really debatable. Millions of dollars spent by the public is expensive, no one wants higher taxes than what they already have to pay. I do not think it is right it is the duty of the taxpayers to pay for a crime that they did not take part in. Who's responsibility do you think it should be to pay the millions of dollars that the death penalty costs?


Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/28/opinion/28mon3.html