The Death Penalty
First of all, what is the death penalty?
Sometimes referred to as “capital punishment,” it is a form of punhsiment for heinous crimes. In the US, most crimes that are punishable by death include murder of varying degrees. However, studies have been done and have shown that 4% of people on death row are innocent; this may not sound like much, but out of the 2,620 people on death row as of January 1, 2020 that is approximately 105 people. Even though the overall trend of deaths per year due to capital punishment has decreased, this is still a gross number. This system is even grosser when the costs are considered at 150 million dollars yearly. In the twenty first century alone, local and state governments have spent billions of taxpayer dollars on the death penalty; this is of course exlducing the twenty one states that have made the death penalty illegal and the four states that “have issued govoner imposed moratoriums”(ABA).
Now onto the Trump Administration’s interpretation and application of this federal law. In 1988, the federal death penalty was reinstated, and since 2003 there have been three federalaly sanctioned deaths, with a nearly seventeen year hiatus in federal executions since 2003. On the state level, the deaths due to capital punishment had also been on a downward trend.
In the year 2020, ten federal executions have taken place, bringing the execution count up to seventeen with the state executions. This all began on July 14th when the first federal execution took place since 2003. Federal executions have continued into Trump's lame duck period, which has not been done by previous presidents, making Trump the president with the most overseen death penalties. In his lame duck period there have already been three federal death sentences carried out, which is tied with the amount of federal executions in the last seventeen years.
Since 1927, there have been forty five federal executions; this means that 20% of all federal deaths that have been carried out in the past 93 years have been under President Donald Trump.
This is ridiculous, gross, and inhumane. Yes, approximately 96% of all people executed did something horrible and unspeakable, but that is not accounting for the people who were recovering or the people who were making an effort to change.
Killing the killers makes you a killer and that is fact, whether it is lethal injection or the electric chair, both of which are inhumane to the highest degree. No, they do not deserve instant forgiveness; no, they do not deserve to just be set free and never worried about again, but with all the money spent on the executions it could be used and put elsewhere. For example, the billions of dollars could be spent on rehabilitation and fixing up the prison and jail systems.
Work Cited:
“Federal Bureau of Prisons.” BOP, www.bop.gov/about/history/federal_executions.jsp. Accessed December 13, 2020.
Heie, Sam. “Opinion: Capital Punishment Should Be Replaced with Rehabilitation Programs.”
HHS Media, 25 Mar. 2016, hhsmedia.com/15263/opinion/opinion-capital-punishment-should-be-replaced-with-rehabilitation-programs Accessed December 13, 2020.
Johnson, Carrie. “Federal Executions Set To Resume After 17 Years With 3 Deaths Scheduled Soon.” NPR, NPR, 10 July 2020, www.npr.org/2020/07/10/889667257/federal-executions-set-to-resume-after-17-years-with-3-deaths-scheduled-soon. Accessed December 13, 2020.
“Several States Consider Repealing or Reforming Death Penalty Laws.” American Bar Association,
11 Mar. 2020, www.americanbar.org/groups/committees/death_penalty_representation/project_press/2020/spring/state-repeal-efforts-2020/. Accessed December 13, 2020.