It's Easy to Believe in the Death Penalty -- If You Ignore the Facts
Innocent people are executed.
The fallibility of the death penalty has been emphasized recently in Illinois, where 13 innocent people have been released from death row in the past five years. Nationally, 87 people have been released from death row since 1972 because they were innocent. Discovering the innocence of condemned prisoners is a matter of luck, extremely hard work and fortunate timing -- 23 innocent people have been executed in this century, their innocence discovered too late to be considered by the courts.
The death penalty is arbitrary and capricious.
Only a small percentage of convicted murderers are sentenced to death. Those who are condemned are not necessarily those whose crimes were the most atrocious. Instead, they tend to be those who are poor, of low social status and limited resources. Most could not afford to hire a lawyer. In many cases, a murderer who gets the death penalty can be distinguished from one who does not by the quality of the defense he or she has received, which in turn depends on the defendant's financial status and the location of the crime.
The death penalty is racist.
Empirical studies repeatedly show a persistent pattern of racial disparities in seeking and imposing the death penalty, revealing discrimination based on the race of the defendant, the race of the victim, or both. A recent Philadelphia study showed that a defendant who is African-American is almost four times more likely to receive a death sentence than a Caucasian defendant. A striking disparity was discovered in a study comparing those executed for interracial murders. Nine white men have been executed for killing black victims, while 130 black men have been executed for killing whites.
Juveniles and mentally retarded persons are put to death.
Colorado law currently forbids executing mentally retarded persons or those who were under 18 at the time of their crimes. As of October 1998, 74 condemned prisoners in other states were on death row for crimes they committed as juveniles. Since 1976, 14 such persons have been executed. Although 13 states and the federal government do not allow the death penalty for mentally retarded people, 36 have been executed since 1976 and over 300 are now on death row.
Murder rates are lower in states without the death penalty.
A 1997 comparison of murder rates in the United States revealed that the average rate in states with the death penalty was 6.6 per 100,000 persons; in states where it has been abolished, the murder rate was 3.5 per 100,000 persons. The South, where 80% of executions occur, has the highest murder rate of any region in the country, at 804 per 100,000 persons. In a survey, 80% of the experts who participated agreed that the research does not support death penalty proponents who argue that executing murderers deters other killers.
The death penalty costs more than life imprisonment.
Most studies estimate that the average capital case from arrest to execution costs between $1 million and $3 million. The enormous amount spent on capital punishment reduces available county, state and national resources for education, health care, public safety, capital improvements and other essential services. In contrast, cases resulting in life imprisonment cost an average of $500,000, including the cost of incarcerating convicted murders.
Every western industrialized nation except the United States has abolished the death penalty.
Even South Africa no longer allows capital punishment, and in early June 1999, the Associated Press reported that President Boris Yeltsin had commuted the death sentences of all 716 condemned prisoners in Russia. The United States stands alone among its peers in continuing to execute its citizens.
Life imprisonment without possibility of parole protects the public.
Studies reflect that support for the death penalty significantly drops when citizens are informed that their state law provides an alternative to the death penalty: life imprisonment without possibility of parole. This means that, contrary to the myths, defendants who have committed terrible crimes will not be released within a matter of years. Studies also show that, with aging, violent offenders are able to adjust to the prison environment.
Church doctrine opposes the death penalty.
Although many people of faith presently support the death penalty, and although the Church once did as well, that is no longer the case. The saying "an eye for an eye' was meant to limit punishment to no more than what would restore the community and was not a call for excessive punishment. Jesus, himself the subject of an execution, forgave those who put Him to death. The First Commandment states, "Thou shall not kill." The antidote to violence is love, not more violence. We cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing as a way of enacting "justice." Respect for life flows from teachings on the dignity of the human person. Everyone has the god-given right to redemption and forgiveness of sins.
Many family members of murder victims oppose the death penalty.
Anger and the desire for vengeance is an understandable human reaction. Yet, many family members find the way through these emotions to forgiveness and compassion, in order to heal themselves and not perpetuate violence. To the death penalty, they say, " Not in my loved one's name."
Editor's Note: The information on these two pages has been distributed by CADP representatives at several community events, as a summary of reasons for opposing the death penalty. If you are interested in obtaining copies of this fact sheet, contact CADP.
