Texas Death Penalty Research Paper

The Death Penalty The purpose of the death penalty is to allow states the right to punish criminals with the highest possible punishment, death. People argue that it is morally wrong for the death penalty to exist, because it allows people to “play God.” Others believe that it helps protect our country from criminals and save lives. Due to this controversy, the death penalty has became a major source of debate in the United States. The death penalty has many benefits. One is that it can help stop evil people from hurting others again in the future. A study in Texas, a state where re-arrests are common, showed that only 20% of prisoners served all their time (Dieter). If the death penalty had played a bigger role in Texas prisons, fewer prisoners would have been released early, and re-arrests would become less common. It has been shown that for every inmate put to death 3 to 18 murders are prevented (Muhlhausen). Another benefit of the death penalty is that it decreases crime. A study was done in states where the death penalty was enacted and for every execution, 14 people are deterred from committing a murder each year (Muhlhausen). When criminals see the high form of punishment murders receive, they are fearful of what consequences they would face if they performed a similar violent crime.
In Texas, each death row case costs approximately $2.3 million dollars. The state has 300 people currently on death row, but still manages to have one of the highest murder rates in the U.S. In New Jersey, 500 police officers were laid off because of lack of funds. Even in Georgia 900 prison workers were laid off, because of money problems. Due to these money problems, when the budget crisis hit Florida the state released 3,000 prisoners early. This in turn threatened public safety. It is actually cheaper for prisoners to spend their lives in prison without parole rather than be executed