- Reviews & Essays
- Capital Punishment in Texas
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Click hereThe debate on whether or not capital punishment is an effective deterrent to crime rages on, more vocally perhaps from those in opposition to it. Does capital punishment work to reduce crime? Texas has had a well deserved reputation for being the leading state in executions of death row inmates, so what better state to examine to find out if the death penalty works? Does capital punishment work in Texas?
The Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty has possibly the most extensive and well put-together web page for the argument against capital punishment. The unfortunate part of this entire website is that it contains little in the way of presentable or usable fact, backed up by verifiable statistics or proof that would support current argument against the death penalty in the State of Texas. The "Facts" link takes one to a page utilizing statistics primarily from 1992 and earlier. Some of the statistics are for other states (such as New York) or are national statistics. There are some facts, however, that should still be considered. One is that mentally retarded people can still be executed by the state of Texas. Another is that defense representation is usually of very poor quality.
The "Conditions" link takes one to an Austrian website that contains a high volume of letters from inmates and families of inmates. The tugging of the heart strings by emotional appeals for leniency by convicted murderers tends to leave a bitter taste in the mouth and mind when one considers the crime or crimes that landed the person on death row in the first place. I wonder to myself: "Did the murder victims make appeals to the murderer, not for better food or living conditions, but to be allowed to live?"
In the interest of discovering current hard-number statistics to support or disprove the effectiveness of capital punishment in Texas, I created two easily understood graphs from statistics culled from four websites, The Disaster Center, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. These line graphs utilize four sets of statistics: Actual numbers of Texas murders, numbers of executions in Texas, the Texas population (or population estimates) and the national inflation rate. The inflation rate is an interesting addition because murder tends to rise with a rising inflation rate. The first graph shows these numbers during the years of 1965 - 1981 when Texas did not execute anyone. The second graph shows the statistics for the years 1982 - Present since executions began again.
The graphs clearly show the following things:
· There has been a fairly constant decrease in the numbers of murders since the death penalty was utilized after being re-instituted (with the exception of 1991 (see point A on the second graph), which proved to be the year with the highest number of murders in the history of Texas). Note: The interest rate was rising each year from 1986, peaking in 1990 (see point B).·The numbers of murders in Texas annually started falling dramatically as executions reached the double digits (see points C).
·1999 showed the lowest number of murders since 1968 (see points D on both graphs) and 2002's murder numbers are at the level they were in 1970 (points E on both graphs).
· An additional point must be kept in mind when examining these numbers which makes the conclusions more amazing. Obviously, the population of Texas continues to rise, yet the straight number of murders has decreased. Per capita figures would show an even more dramatic decrease, but since the straight numbers can present the same message, I did not use that technique.
At this point, another argument for abolition of the death penalty can be examined. It is said, and numbers certainly prove, that the monetary expenditure involved in putting someone to death exceeds that of keeping them in prison for life. Part of this could be remedied by denying appeal for those persons convicted beyond any doubt (preferably by DNA testing) to be the murderer.
Another method of justifying any expense involved would be to look at the amount of money actually saved by the decrease in murders due to the death penalty. Thousands of man-hours and millions of dollars are saved annually by the State of Texas because of a lowered murder rate; there are less investigations, less prosecutions, and fewer mouths to feed. Add to this the happiness of families that remain intact, and you have a value saved beyond dollars.
According to the evidence presented, it would appear that capital punishment works in Texas, and perhaps the rest of the United States would benefit from the same program of capital punishment that Texas now has. Surely, some aspects should be examined more in depth, such as executing mentally retarded people and ensuring that competent legal representation is provided to those who cannot afford to hire their own. However, because the numbers clearly show that a decrease in murders follows utilization of the death penalty, it seems that the death penalty is invaluable for the people of Texas.
* * * * *
Works Cited
Disaster Center, The, "Texas Crime Rates 1960 - 2000", 2001, 28 Dec 2003 (website)
Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Uniform Crime Reports", July 2003, 28 Dec 2003 (website)
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, "Consumer Price Index, 1913-", Oct 2003, 26 Dec 2003 (website)
Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, "Home", Dec 2003, 29 Dec 2003 (website)
Texas Department of Criminal Justice, "Executions", 29 Dec 2003, 30 Dec 2003 (website)
- COMMENTS
Anonymousover 11 years agoIf the death penalty deters other criminals that is wonderful, a bonus really. I have no problem with it being retribution. It will also deter that particular individual. Look up the name Kenneth McDuff.
The justice system is a product of humans and therefore flawed-no doubt. We should work to make it as fair as possible. However, the idea on let ten guilty go to save on innocent is also horrifying. I hope they all come live next to you. Any falsely convicted I pray and mourn for but consider them martyrs to a safer world.
The value of all human life? I didn't devalue them as humans, they did that through their actions. Yes, poor don't always get the top drawer defense of the rich. Because some one else got off this person gets a free pass? No. I don't know the actual statistics, but what I do know leads me to believe more not wealthy people commit death penalty elligible crimes. And no, I'm not rich. I just don't want to be afraid to walk to my car in a parking lot, sleep with a window open on a beautiful night, or let my child work in a fast food place to pay for things I can't afford.
As to prison costs-laywers and judges have taken away prison livestock and produce farms. They should have jobs and training so the system is nearly self sufficient. An honest days labor to sustain your keep-not hours in a cell and hours on the weights. (You say chain gang like it's a bad thing....)
Don't want to be on death row? Don't do the crime.
Gracieyhaalmost 13 years agoThe capital punishment is debatable issue for many people in the U.S.. America is one of the few countries in the industrial world that still make use of the capital punishment. Even with the debate over whether or not the capital punishment should be used or not, states that make use of the capital punishment have to pay a lot for it. It expenses working class individuals a whole lot of money in <a title="How it works with an installment loan" href="http://personalmoneystore.com/installment-loans/">installment loans</a> to carry it out.
Anonymousover 19 years agoIt was a thoughtful article and it made several good points. Sure it could have been better, but I believe it added to the general dialog. Thanks for writing it.
Captain Midnightabout 20 years agoI am generally anti-capital punishment. Some of the crimes ARE so heinous that I want to commit an even more heinous murder of the killer -- two murders in particular, both of which had the sentences commuted due to prosecutor error -- those inmates ought to thank their lucky stars the state got to them before I did.
Still, there are prosecutors who seem utterly bloodthirsty, worse than Hitler, worse than Eichmann, worse than Stalin, who want to kill in public forums with themselves as the executioners. I have no tolerance whatsoever for those men and women. I have long insisted on a law that makes prosecutors responsible for their actions (they aren't). If a prosecutor charges a person and the person is found guilty of a crime he or she didn't commit, I don't blame the jury, the judge or opposing counsel, because they are all helpless before the prosecutor. In those cases, the prosecutor should be charged with aggravated kidnapping. If the prosecutor seeks the death penalty for an innocent person, then solicitation of capital murder should be added on, and if the innocent person is executed, then it's capital murder with prima facie evidence of the prosecutor's guilt. I don't know how this law would work, but I want it. I also refuse to have anything to do with prosecuting attorneys under any circumstances, and consider them the scum of the earth.
MR. Gibsonabout 20 years agoI have read your text with great interest. I am majoring in criminal justice and I am really for capital punishment but unfortunetly I think only poor whites, blacks and hispanics get the gas chamber, electric chair, hanging, firing squad or lethel injection and the rich who can afford all these high priced lawyers go free on the same crimes their poorer bretheren are executed for. I am sick of it and it happens all the time. not just in the O.J simpson case either! I really think all the mad dog killers like Charles manson should especially be executed to make sure they do not do it again to innocent civilians. I can talk on and on about this but I think I have said my main point already. thank you!
Anonymousover 20 years agoHitler and Eichmann loved the death penalty. Osama bin Laden, the Taliban, the Ku Klux Klan, Pat Robertson and George W. Bush all love the death penalty. Mother Theresa and Gandhi hated it. I know with whom I want to align myself.
Empowering the government to kill its own citizens is the stupidest idea in the history of this planet.
Anonymousover 20 years agoA friend of mine, who I will let remain nameless, directed me to this site -- specifically, this article.
I have a very personal reason to be interested in this article. I work for the State of Texas Office of the Attorney General Postconviction Litigation Division -- we are the people who handle the automatic appeal all death penalty cases recieve.
Speaking from my experience in this division, I would say that defense counsel is more often than not far from incompetent. Many times in a case where the death penalty might be considered as punishment, there are anti-death penalty rights groups that provide excellent legal representation -- and many of those people act as State-appointed attorneys.
Money spent on keeping an inmate alive may be less -- and this sentiment will most likely produce a rather hostile reaction...well, I think that extra money is well spent.
Every day I see pictures, read transcripts, see vidoes and listen to the people who commit crimes that I couldn't have imagined a few years ago.
Why should I pay for those people to live more comfortably than I do?
(As for mentally retarded or disabled individuals -- they face the death penalty because they are capable of telling right from wrong. To say that they cannot seriously insults and degrades 'mentally retarded' who act as responsible, productive, active, involved and intelligent members of society. I have know many of them, and count them equals -- they would not want to be treated as less, or considered unable to comprehend and act upon the law and basic moral values because they are 'retarded')
I say that the death penalty is murder -- legalized, cold-blooded murder. But I also say that I agree with that murder, because I believe those people gave up their right to life when they purposefully took another person's.
Anonymousover 20 years agoI support the death penalty because the government cannot be trusted to keep murderers in jail. Life without possibility of parole is not a true statement. Convicted murderers are routinely paroled. And no matter how guilty a person is, someone will always defend the indefensible. They will be set free. The victim will always be dead.
Rapists and pedafiles are also paroled even though they are very likely to return to the same behavior upon release. WHy not make them serve the full sentence?
Also, someone serving life has little to lose with regards to the treatment of fellow inmates. These murderers can kill fellow criminals or guards in prison as well.
However, I must acknowledge mistakes can happen. If an innocent person is executed, this is impossible to defend. But I do believe that less victims result when capital punishment is administered, then when it is not.
As for the UK gentleman's response that he would set free a killer he apparently believed without a reasonable doubt to be guilty than take a chance he might be executed, it is much more likely he would kill many more people than it would turn out he was innocent. But you shouldn't have to worry about that because only the same jury (by unanimous verdict only) can apply a death sentence.
Anonymousover 20 years agoThe sentencing of some "murderers" is controvertial and has been proven to be erroeous. There are others whose guilt is extremely well documented, and quite incontrovertial - in one case here, where a young girl was raped and buried alive. DNA evidence - for instance is fairly cast iron.
Under NZ law this man could be released into the communtiy after a "life sentence" of under 20 years.
The release or even existence of such individuals to remaining familly members or acquaintances can add further trauma, and such garbage need sto be disposed of.
Inother circumstances the case for a death sentance is less well established, but to stop the death sentance in all cases stops real justice.
Anonymousover 20 years agoI read Toxicos article with great interest, however there is only one flaw in the article... and given the finality of the death penalty a rather fatal one.
Of those executed how many have been retospectively found to be innocent. I would guess on the numbers of those that have been executed the probability of wrongful conviction and execution will be about 5%.(Source Howard League for Penal Reform) I dont know the figures for actual execution but lets say it is 25 per annum, if 100 have been executed then 5 people have been judicially murdered. What sanction is there for wrongful conviction of theses individuals, we rarely see the DA or the police department get a final jag.
And speaking as somebody who is alive and kicking a pothumous pardon is worth bugger all!
Perhaps toxico you could give us those stats, at the end of the day it is based on a moral choice and in my case if I was on a jury where the death penalty can be sanctioned, then I for one would vote not guilty any time.
