Capital Punishment

Capital punishment, also known as death penalty is a “legal enforced deprivation of life based on a court decision; a lawful infliction of the extreme penalty on a person convicted of a grave offense. The morality of this practice is the subject of public debate, in which philosophical and ethical arguments play an essential role” (Nikolaichev, B. O). The issue of capital punishment can be a sensitive issue to approach on the grounds that individuals view it differently. American citizens are split over death penalty as a form of punishment. “People support or oppose punishment for complex, often emotional reasons” (Pataki, George). There are several reasons given by the supporters and the opponents of capital punishment in support of their feelings and views towards this form of punishment. Those who oppose the capital punishment argue about the economic impact of keeping an inmate on death row than to keep the offender on life sentence. The process of prosecuting and appealing a murder conviction is considered expensive. “Opponents of the death penalty say prosecutors may be seeking the death penalty less often because of the costs of a capital trial, sentencing and post-conviction proceedings” (Kenneth Jost, p 965). The main reason why capital punishment is expensive is due to the time consumed during the hearing proceedings compared to a typical hearing in any other case. However, supporters of capital punishment argue that the problem lies within our judicial system where a case is dragged for more than a decade, thereby wasting money on appeals. They claim that it would be much more effective if murders were executed shortly after conviction. An opponent of capital punishment made a statement on California’s system, “Life without parole provides swift and certain justice while the death penalty will cost the state $1 billion over the next five years, not counting the waste of public time and money devoted to the global search for