Fact: Texas has executed 405 criminals since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. On average, Texas executes around 60 criminals per year.
Fact: More executions have taken place in Texas than any other state in the entire country. The 3 states that follow Texas in the highest amount of death penalties to date are Virginia, Oklahoma, and Missouri. Together the 3 states still do not reach the number Texas has accumulated.
Fact: It is cheaper for a state to give the life sentence to a criminal than it is to execute them. The cost of a trial that ends in an execution is around $470,000, while the cost of a trial that is resolved with a life sentence is between $47,000 and $70,000.
So why do we still do it? Why is Texas so gung-ho about the death penalty? In one year alone Texas could save around $20,220,000 by issuing the life sentence over the death penalty. The death penalty is a barbaric method of justice. I believe that in some rare cases it is necessary, but it should be for only the most heinous of crimes. We as Texans should stop seeing the death penalty as the highest form of punishment. I think living out the rest of my life in a small cell surrounded by other criminals is much worse than being painlessly executed in front of a small number of my peers. The death penalty should be a last resort, if even considered at all. It’s the most logical course of action. Why are Texans so blind to this issue? Why don’t we simply phase the death penalty out? Courts could slowly start issuing life sentences more and more over time until at last the death penalty was no longer even considered as an acceptable form of punishment. It could work, but it would require cooperation from many of Texas’ government officials. Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe Texans are just afraid of change.
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2 comments:
Hey Joseph, I completely agree with you on the death penalty issue. I did not know so much money went to cases resulting in execution. I originally oppose the death penalty and now, with that fact in mind, I oppose it even more. It is ridiculous to spend those huge sums on people who are not even worth it. All that money can be better spent giving it out to students as financial aid and grants. I have the same exact opinion as you preferring life in jail than a painless death for criminals. When criminals are executed, their "suffering" ends there. We are actually doing them a favor by not having them pay for what they did for the rest of their lives. On the contrary, life in prison takes away what people love the most: Freedom and loved ones. Not only that, but in jail, they will actually pay for their crime by living in misery for the rest of their lives.
I'm glad you had said something about the death penalty because you couldn't have possibly stated your opinion any better. It's true that the executions should be our last resort. If Texas was so "hard" on the worst criminals, they should let them sit in prison for the rest of their lives and not simply put an end to their lives in a heartbeat. As Joseph previously stated, look at how much money the state could be saving! Millions of dollars! And could the government care less?? Of course, because they continue to spend so much more just to put on a show of how "tough" Texas really is. Executions don't prevent criminals from breaking the law. If we are suppose to help better society, there are different methods to go about it. Although in some cases, it may be best to execute certain criminals, it doesn't prove anything more than our capability of executing the wrong.
In the end, you couldn't have said it any better than, "Maybe Texans are just afraid of change." Regardless of reason, I fail to believe that the TX death penalty will change in the near future. We can only hope our voices will be eventually heard.
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