This November, voters in my home state of California will have two ballot measures to consider that will determine whether the state amends or repeals capital punishment. I will be voting “yes” on measure 62, which seeks to eliminate the death penalty. While the emotional desire to enact this ultimate punishment for murder can be strong, statistics demonstrate that it is an antiquated sentence that should be no longer be implemented. Here a just a few of the many reasons that capital punishment should be abolished not only in California, but across the United States.
It is racially-biased
The death penalty is a demonstrably racially-biased sentence. Study after study has shown that this sentence is disproportionally handed down to blacks convicted of murdering whites. In sum, “in 96% of states where there have been reviews of race and the death penalty, there was a pattern of either race-of-victim or race-of-defendant discrimination, or both (Center, 2016). Check out this link to see a number of startling infographics on this bias and other drawbacks to the death penalty: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/FactSheet.pdf .
It increases wrongful convictions
Both cognitive resource theory (Fiedler & Garcia, 1987) and generic prejudice (Vidmar & Schuller, 2001) increase the likelihood of jurors wrongfully convicting defendants in capital murder cases. This happens because the emotionally stressful nature of deliberating about the facts in a murder trial reduces a juror’s capacity to think rationally, because emotionally-charged facts are more salient than empirical facts. This in turn leads to a bias toward conviction based on the charges alone. Compounding this bias is the fact that jurors who are unwilling to impose a death sentence upon a guilty verdict are excused from serving on a capital case, yet “people who are able to give the death sentence as a punishment for a crime are much more likely to convict than the normal public” (PSU, 2016).
It doesn’t work
The possibility of receiving the death penalty seems like it would be an effective deterrent to murder, but this is an area where, again, the statistics reveal its inefficacy. For example, when surveyed, 88% of former and present presidents of the country’s top academic criminological societies rejected the notion that the death penalty acts as a deterrent to murder. (Radelet & Lacock, 2009, in Center, 2016). Why? As Freakonomics author Steven D. Levitt points out, “no rational criminal should be deterred by the death penalty, since the punishment is too distant and too unlikely to merit much attention” (Levitt, 2007). Incidentally, murder rates are lower in states without capital punishment (Center, 2016). No one wants to appear “soft on crime,” but when polled, even law enforcement officials concur that there are better ways to reduce violent crime (Center, 2016). http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/FactSheet.pdf
It’s expensive
Since California reenacted capital punishment in 1978, the state has spent approximately 5 billion dollars on death penalty cases and appeals, and has only executed 13 prisoners (“California proposition 62, repeal of the death penalty (2016),” 2016). No need to get out your calculator—that’s an astronomical $384,615,384 per execution. Repealing the death penalty in favor of a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole is expected to save California taxpayers approximately 150 million dollars a year (“California proposition 62, repeal of the death penalty (2016),” 2016).
In short, abolishing capital punishment will not only lead to more accurate and equitable sentencing, but it will free up considerable financial resources as well. I can only imagine the reduction in violent crime that could occur if instead of acting on our desire to seek revenge for heinous crimes, we instead followed the recommendations of police chiefs, who believe that being able to hire and properly train more officers, along with greater access to social services, would be a much better use of funds. I hope that this fall California will join the other 30 states in which capital punishment is illegal.
Resources:
California proposition 62, repeal of the death penalty (2016). (2016). Retrieved October 12, 2016, from https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_62,_Repeal_of_the_Death_Penalty_(2016)
Center, D. P. I. (2016). Deterrence: States without the death penalty have had consistently lower murder rates. Retrieved October 12, 2016, from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/deterrence-states-without-death-penalty-have-had-consistently-lower-murder-rates
Levitt, S. D. (2007, June 11). Does the death penalty really reduce crime? Retrieved October 12, 2016, from Freakonomics Blog, http://freakonomics.com/2007/06/11/does-the-death-penalty-really-reduce-crime/
PSU WC. (2016). Lesson 8: The Legal System/Criminal Justice [Online lecture]. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1802487/modules/items/21234175
Tags: Applied social psychology, Bias, cognitive resource theory, criminal justice, death penalty, discrimination, generic prejudice
I enjoyed reading your post and found much of the information you presented interesting. I’ve had many debates and discussions about capital punishment and long supported the idea. It is often seen as a harsh form of punishment. However, it is only used to punish people who commit crimes that are equally harsh or harsher. Like many Americans, I believe that some crimes are so heinous that they warrant the death penalty. I also believe that the cons outweigh the pros when it comes to this debate. However, it seems just that brutal acts against fellow humans would be repaid with death.
Although I believe that the death sentence shouldn’t be eradicated, I do think that it ought to be used in extreme cases. Reading your post has opened my eyes to a different perspective about capital punishment. And your arguments in support of its abolition are sensible. It puts me on the ‘fence’ about the topic, but I don’t think i’m ready to “vote 62.”