Post by gellibee on Jun 18, 2006 3:48:31 GMT -5
The Death Penalty is Unfair:
1) The Death Penalty is Unfair: The death penalty has never been applied fairly across race, class, and gender lines. Who is sentenced to die often depends on the attitudes of prosecutors, where one lives, the prejudices of judges and juries, and the skills of defense lawyers.
2. The Death Penalty Risks killing Innocent People:
Since 1976, more than 100 prisoners convicted of capital crimes and sentenced to death were released from death row with strong evidence of their innocence. DNA tests play a major role in proving innocence. Wrongful convictions often result from false confessions, which are frequent among juveniles and the mentally retarded, mistaken eyewitness evidence, jail house snitches, white-coat fraud and junk science, and prosecutorial abuse.
3) The Death Penalty Punishes the Poor: Most defendants are poor and are forced to depend on incompetent or token representation. Some lawyers have slept or appeared drunk during trials.
4) The Death Penalty is Racially Biased: Those who kill white people are far more likely to get the death penalty than those who kill black people.
5) The Death Penalty Costs More Than Life in Prison:
Prosecuting a death penalty case is extremely expensive for a state and drains money that could be used for education and social programs. It costs more than sentencing a prisoner to life without parole.
The most comprehensive death penalty study in the country found that the death penalty costs North Carolina $2.16 million more per execution than a non-death penalty murder case with a sentence of life imprisonment (Duke University, May 1993).
In its review of death penalty expenses, the State of Kansas concluded that capital cases are 70% more expensive than comparable non-death penalty cases.
6) The Death Penalty is Opposed By a Growing Number of Murdered Victims' Families: Groups such as Murdered Victims Families for Reconciliation and Journey of Hope oppose the death penalty.
7) The Death Penalty is Not a Deterrent to Crime:
Since the death penalty was reinstated, over 80% of all executions have occurred in the South, the region with the highest murder rate. The Northeast, the region with the lowest murder rate, has accounted for less than 1% of the executions.
8) The Death Penalty is Not Used in Most Countries Around the World: More than half the countries in the world have abolished the death penalty in either law or practice.
1) The Death Penalty is Unfair: The death penalty has never been applied fairly across race, class, and gender lines. Who is sentenced to die often depends on the attitudes of prosecutors, where one lives, the prejudices of judges and juries, and the skills of defense lawyers.
2. The Death Penalty Risks killing Innocent People:
Since 1976, more than 100 prisoners convicted of capital crimes and sentenced to death were released from death row with strong evidence of their innocence. DNA tests play a major role in proving innocence. Wrongful convictions often result from false confessions, which are frequent among juveniles and the mentally retarded, mistaken eyewitness evidence, jail house snitches, white-coat fraud and junk science, and prosecutorial abuse.
3) The Death Penalty Punishes the Poor: Most defendants are poor and are forced to depend on incompetent or token representation. Some lawyers have slept or appeared drunk during trials.
4) The Death Penalty is Racially Biased: Those who kill white people are far more likely to get the death penalty than those who kill black people.
5) The Death Penalty Costs More Than Life in Prison:
Prosecuting a death penalty case is extremely expensive for a state and drains money that could be used for education and social programs. It costs more than sentencing a prisoner to life without parole.
The most comprehensive death penalty study in the country found that the death penalty costs North Carolina $2.16 million more per execution than a non-death penalty murder case with a sentence of life imprisonment (Duke University, May 1993).
In its review of death penalty expenses, the State of Kansas concluded that capital cases are 70% more expensive than comparable non-death penalty cases.
6) The Death Penalty is Opposed By a Growing Number of Murdered Victims' Families: Groups such as Murdered Victims Families for Reconciliation and Journey of Hope oppose the death penalty.
7) The Death Penalty is Not a Deterrent to Crime:
Since the death penalty was reinstated, over 80% of all executions have occurred in the South, the region with the highest murder rate. The Northeast, the region with the lowest murder rate, has accounted for less than 1% of the executions.
8) The Death Penalty is Not Used in Most Countries Around the World: More than half the countries in the world have abolished the death penalty in either law or practice.