Is the Death Penalty Fair?

Unlike serving time behind bars, a death sentence cannot be reversed once it has been enforced.

As of 2020, there are 28 death penalty states, including Missouri, and 22 non-penalty states. 

History Behind the Death Penalty

The death penalty, also referred to as capital punishment, has been in America’s government system since 1608 around the time European settlers set foot in the New World.

The United States deemed the death penalty constitutional in 1976, and as of July 2020, 1,516 people have been executed while on death row.

Of these 1,516 criminals, two prisoners in Washington and one in Delaware have been executed by hanging between 1993 and 1996, three by firing squad in Utah where the most recent person executed was 49-year-old Ronnie Gardner, who was executed in 2010 for murdering a male, 11 by gas chamber in Nevada, Mississippi, Arizona, California and North Carolina, 163 by electrocution and 1,336 by lethal injection.

Of all death row cases since 1973, 172 death row prisoners have been exonerated of all death row-related charges due to wrongful convictions against them.

In 2005, the United States Supreme Court, through Roper v. Simmons, concluded the death penalty for juveniles was cruel and therefore abolished it. Since 1976, 22 individuals have been executed for crimes committed while under age prior to Roper v. Simmons. 

Did you know the death penalty can be enforced for crimes other than murder? Other crimes that allow the death penalty include treason, aggravated kidnapping, drug trafficking, aircraft hijacking, placing a bomb near a bus terminal, espionage and aggravated assault by incarcerated, persistent felons or murderers. 

Cost

Many people assume it is less expensive to execute a criminal because of the high cost to house a prisoner and pay for necessary health needs. In more recent studies, these assumptions have been proven wrong. Some of the higher costs associated with inmates on death row include the legal expenses for lengthy trials and appeals, the necessity for representation in the courtroom and the vast number of inmates on death row who spend their days in solitary confinement. 

Why is the cost for the death penalty so high?

• Legal fees: According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the majority of inmates on death row do not have the means to hire sufficient legal representation or even their own attorney whatsoever. In these cases, the government or state is forced to assign a public defender to the case and eat the cost of the prosecution.

• Pre-trial expenses: Due to the extremity of the punishment with inmates on death row, these death penalty cases take more time and require more experts in the investigating of the case to come to a final decision. Many times there are extensions with these cases where the county taxpayers are then responsible for funding the extra attention needed to reach a verdict.

• Jury and trials: Because of predetermined views on the death penalty, it can often take more time and be more difficult to gather a fit jury for capital cases. Trials in capital cases can also take up to four times longer than non-death penalty cases.

• Imprisonment: With most inmates on death row, they are often required to be held in solitary confinement where they are kept in a cell for 23 hours per day. These isolated prisoners require more space in prisons to be held (especially if they are held in a single cell), more security and other special monitoring or treatment than non-capital prisoners.

• Appeal process: Each person on death row is entitled to their own appeal process to reduce the chance for errors, and the cost of this process is often rendered directly to taxpayers. 

A recent study completed by the Death Penalty Information Center revealed the extreme debt our nation has incurred as a result of capital cases.