Imagine that the European convention of human rights weren’t designed, written, amended and supplemented with Article 2, defending a human’s right to life and protocols 6 and 13 that abolishes the death penalty. Imagine bringing back the death penalty to the UK was a serious debate in the way that the UK would be able to bring back Capital punishment (CP) without having to break any legal binding documents like the treaties. In my very humble opinion, there aren’t any solid arguments for the death penalty that can’t be convincingly countered. The idea that government should take a life seems barbaric. Desmond TuTu said “Taking a life for a life isn’t Justice, it’s revenge”. There have been popular key talking points surrounding the CP debate; Costs to the government, morality, deterrence. I wish to discuss these same points with hopefully a fresh view.
The cost argument has been argued between pro and anti-capital punishment but most of the numbers seem to be in support of the anti-capital debate. An article that amongst other factors studied the cost of CP found that cost of CP annually is greater than an inmate living out a life sentence without parole. The article named; “Executing the Will of the Voters: A Roadmap to Mend or End the California Legislature 's Multi-Billion-Dollar Death Penalty Debacle (2011)”
In California, more than $4 billion on capital punishment since it was reinstated in 1978 (about $308 million for each of the 13 executions carried out.
California spends an additional $184 million on the death penalty per year because of the additional costs of capital trials, enhanced security on death row, and legal representation. The study’s authors predict that the cost of the death penalty will reach $9 billion by 2030.
The Report of the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice (2008) quotes
"The additional cost of confining an inmate to death row, as compared to the maximum security prisons
References: Report of the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice (2008) http://www.ccfaj.org/documents/reports/dp/official/FINAL%20REPORT%20DEATH%20PENALTY.pdf The European Convention on Human Rights http://www.echr.coe.int/ECHR/EN/Header/Basic+Texts/The+Convention+and+additional+protocols/The+European+Convention+on+Human+Rights/ The Big Questions - Do Some Crimes Deserve The Death Penalty http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e4nm9Lu2fs