The Death Penalty is Wasteful and Immoral

by ARI KRANE

When Nikolas Cruz murdered 17 students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., he committed one of the most atrocious and inhumane acts possible for a human being. Recently, on Oct. 13, 2022, Cruz went on trial to decide whether or not he deserved the death penalty, and, ultimately, the jury decided to sentence him to life in prison without parole, rather than the death penalty. Victims, gun control advocates and even concerned citizens alike were shocked and driven to ask the same topics in American history, but the absurd costs and ongoing morality issues have diminished any positives. In America, it’s practically a delusion that the punishment will be carried out at all. The death penalty has lost its weight. The threat of this capital punishment no longer commands fear and discipline; rather, it evokes strain on taxpayers and religious and moral disputes. burial and many other costs that continuously build up and take from American taxpayers. A 2011 study examined California’s death row system and concluded that, between 1978 - 2011, California’s current system had cost state taxpayers $4 billion more than a life without parole system. that Catholics, Jews, other non-Christian religions and the religiously unaffiliated all preferred life without parole to the death penalty. While few have always had question: If not Nikolas Cruz, who could possibly receive a death sentence?

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 13 Americans have been executed in 2022 as of Nov. 14. These criminals spent a range of 13 to 35 years on death row prior to their executions by lethal injection. While these select few finally faced their sentence, there are over 2,400 people currently on death row.

Eliminating the death penalty altogether would save taxpayers and begin the necessary conversion to a criminal justice system without the death penalty. Even keeping around the option of a death sentence creates unnecessary costs and strain on everyone involved. Without the ability altogether, prisons can fully adopt a life without parole system and become more efficient and cost-effective.

For some, knowing a terrible criminal is executed gives a feeling of revenge or security. For others, it feels immoral and counterproductive. The death penalty has been one of the most controversial

A capital case — a case in which the prosecution argues for the death penalty — requires another level of care and resources. According to the Nevada State Legislature, capital cases are roughly eight times more expensive than a federal murder case in which the death penalty is not sought.

Even when the execution is finalized, the government must pay for more officers on staff during the execution, the executioner and necessary drugs, proper

There isn’t a heavy religious argument at play either. The Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops explained that “Catholic teaching says that the situations in which the death penalty can be used are ‘rare, if not practically non-existent.’ [...] We can’t know whether God has a purpose for a person’s life, even one who has committed a terrible crime and must spend his or her life behind bars.”

On a broader scale, the September 2014 “American Values Survey” by the Public Religion Research Institute found passionate moral conflicts, the majority of religious groups now swing in opposition to the death penalty. With no strong voice in favor of this flawed system, there is simply no reason to keep pushing financial and personal boundaries. It’s time to end the fight for death. Being sentenced to an execution means decades of waiting and emotional and financial drain for the families involved and unrelated citizens. If anything, the death penalty causes more strain on everyone but the criminal. Victims’ families should be saved from the burden of even having this option; stop the death penalty.