Deserve Death Penalty?

According to my classmate, Logan on an article “Three charged with murder in weekend Round Rock stabbing death”, three teenagers stabbed a man to abduct the drugs he was known to carry. They were arrested for murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. He discussed that the choice made was unfair and the teenagers should have received death penalty. Because they purposely took someone’s life away, Logan claims that the murderers should be given the same punishment. Being said, he believes that Texas should use death penalty for various reasons: It will reduce the number of loaded people in jails, it will lower taxes for taxpayers, and those who kill an innocent person deserve it.

However, I disagree with Logan’s commentary. Did you know that paying taxes for death penalty cost MUCH more than paying for life imprisonment? Do you know how many people were executed for crimes they didn't commit?

Death penalty in Texas cost around $2.3 million on tax payers; as for life on parole, the cost is about $20,000 per inmate per year. Texas does continue using death penalty for crucial negligence, which indicates my next elucidation.

If the state system executed a “murderer”, will this provide closure? No. The purpose of death penalty, to many, is to make the victim’s family feel better and provide retribution. However, even after many years of when the execution took place, families continue experiencing devastation and depression of their love ones’ death. Death penalty wouldn’t change the fact that someone got killed… actually, nothing will restore the life of an innocent individual. So why proceed further and kill the murderer if it’s not going to change anything?

Also, immerse your perception on the actual procedure of the execution itself. Texas, with many other states, uses lethal injection to peacefully kill the inmate (if done correctly, of course). Certainly, the procedure is not nearly as painful and agonizing as life imprisonment. When you’re in prison, you’re locked in an ignoble and dark box of concrete. Conveying inmates’ lives in prison also give them a chance to comprehend their mistakes and an opportunity to improve.

And what if the inmate is innocent? It takes many years to actually confirm the guilt/ innocence of a person. Therefore, if you kill the inmate through execution and then discovered he was innocent, what can you do? People make mistakes. Life imprisonment allows the system to reverse those mistakes.

Life imprisonment can be beneficial for our state and citizens: lowering tax dollars, low risk of mistakes on the system, secured prisons, and suffering and guilt of the inmates. Therefore, death penalty is unnecessary and shouldn’t be used in Texas.