The Death Penalty Of Capital Punishment - 1333 Words

â€Å"At 8:30 p.m. the first jolt of 1900 volts of electricity passed through Mr. Evan’s body. It lasted thirty seconds. Sparks and flames erupted from the electrode tied to Mr. Evan’s left leg. His body slammed against the straps holding him in the electric chair and his fist clenched permanently. The electrode apparently burst from the strap holding it in place. A large puff of grayish smoke and sparks poured out from under the hood that covered Mr. Evan’s face. An overpowering stench of burnt flesh and clothing began pervading the witness room. Two doctors examined Mr. Evans and declared that he was not dead.† What you just heard was a horrifying account of just one, of the many terrible mishaps, that have occurred in the history of the†¦show more content†¦It is time to realize that an â€Å"eye for an eye† will, indeed, make the whole world blind. First and foremost, I would like to address the legal and economic troubles that the system of capital punishment bring to the forefront. More specifically, the legal proceedings, and what seems to be a never ending process of appeals and reviews, has shown that even after years of â€Å"experimentation,† this system can’t be patched up; capital punishment has manifested as a costly and ineffective form of punishment. According to the Assessment of Costs by Judge Arthur Alarcon and Professor Paula Mitchell, California has spent $4 billion on capital punishment in 33 years, with half ($1.94 billion) of this going into litigation costs which are mostly borne by the taxpayer. Even more surprising, the authors calculated that if those currently on death row were instead, commuted to sentences of life without parole, it would result in savings of $170 million a year, or $5 billion in just the next 20 years. With cases resulting in death sentences averaging almost $4 million more than those without, an obvious is tradeoff is made with taxpayer funds. Our parent’s and one day our own hard earned money could be put into the executions of 1or 2 criminals or with the savings made by abolishing the death penalty, additional police could be hired to patrol the streets or the root of crime can be attacked by greater