rstand is how our courts work. Contrary to popular belief, death penalty cases are three to four times more expensive than life imprisonment cases (http://mtsd.k12.we.us/mtsd/district/whacked.sites/anatomy.of.a.murder/furman.htm). There are usually many appeals in cases that involve the death penalty, which makes the case become drawn out and very expensive. The average time between sentencing and execution for the 31 prisoners put on death row in 1992 was 114 months, or nine and a half years(Stewart p.50). Criminal justice process expenses, trial court cost, appellate and post-convictions costs and prison cost perhaps including years served on death row awaiting executingall told, the extra cost per death penalty imposed in over a quarter million dollars, and per execution exceeds $2 million dollars(Cavanaugh p.33). If you compare this to a twenty-year prison term for first-degree murder, it is around $330,000 (Cavanaugh p.23). Another study done in Florida cost 3.1 million dollars to execute a person, where as it only cost 1 million for a life sentencing (Becker p.23). The figures show that our tax money could be saved to provide to other areas of our nation rather than killing prisoners inhumanly. One argument in todays society is that capital punishment is a form of deterrence. Does the death penalty truly deter crime and murder? It is thought that if a person knows that he commits a certain crime that will end up loosing his life, therefore he wont commit that crime. Individuals, who commit any types of crime ranging from auto theft to 1st-degree murder, never take into account the consequences of their actions. Deterrence to crime is rooted in the individuals themselves. Every human has a person set of conduct and rules that they live by. The personal set of conduct can be made or broken by friend, influences, family, home, and life. A person who is never taught right from wrong will probably never understand any limit...
