Second Semester Essay

Sandra Gomez

Ms.Devaney P#5

4/4/11

THE COSTS OF THE DEATH PENALTY

“..I didn’t realize what I've done till i heard the sound. Like somebody drowning. Screaming under water..” (pg. 244) Perry Smith from Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood” brutally describes how he slit the throat of Mr.Clutter. Perry Smith and Dick Hickcock broke in to the Clutter home with intentions of stealing money but instead they murdered Mr.Clutter, his wife and his two teenage children. How can one not be accountable for this type of crime? The death penalty should no longer be used because it is costly and it is atrocious to execute a person who is mentally unfit.

Capital punishment is the lawful infliction of death as a punishment and since ancient times it has been used for a wide variety of offenses. Since 1977, the majority of death row defendants have been executed for killing white victims, even though African-Americans make up about half of all homicide victims. The death penalty is racially biased. The death penalty disregards mental illness, the execution of those who are mentally ill is prohibited against international law, however, dozens of prisoners have been executed despite suffering from a mental illness.

According to Dr.Jones, the psychiatric doctor assigned to the Clutter murder case in “In Cold Blood”, he testified that Perry Smith showed “definite signs of severe mental issues” (pg.296). He also says that Perry  “shows mild early signs of a disorder of his thought processes. He has a poor ability to organize his thinking..”(pg.297). During the time of the trial, the M’Naghten Rule in Kansas stated all a psychologist can do during a trial is to testify whether or not a defendant could tell right from wrong at the time of the crime. Dr.Jones testified that Perry did not know right from wrong during the Clutter family murder. In the end, Perry Smith was still executed when proved mentally unfit.

To deny a child of an education is, I believe, the most criminal act  that can be done. For many years an eduction has been thought of as the most important opportunity that anyone can receive, so shouldn't the government do what everything in their power to protect that opportunity? At this moment schools are suffering budget cuts,program cuts, and teacher cuts. How can students receive an education when schools are losing money? While kids are suffering from the governments mistakes, its costing the government over 2 million dollars to execute ONE death-row inmate, compared to the costs of keeping the inmate in prison for life. Is the execution of ONE inmate worth the education of MILLIONS of students? The money that is being spent on one inmate could be used to save schools, could be used to save student’s futures, could be used to save generations of future students.

It is easy to agree that the death penalty is an “easy way out” to get rid of criminals. A lot of people support the death penalty because they feel that killing convicted murderers will satisfy their need for justice and/or vengeance. Another reason is that they believe that once a convicted murderer is executed, their is no chance that he will break out of jail and kill or injure someone. Those arguments but it cannot be forgotten that it is brutal and inhumane way of justice.

In conclusion, the death penalty is a lawful punishment of death, it is widely supported because of the safety of the community, and the victims believe that it will bring them justice of their lost one. Many people do not realize the effect that the death penalty has. The main effect that it is very costly, the money that is being spent on executing of an inmate could be wisely used to support schools. The death penalty should be abolished because of how it is biased against the mentally ill and very expensive.