Throughout history, people have accepted the death penalty as the worst punishment for really bad crimes. In ancient times, punishments were brutal, with methods such as stoning and crucifixion. Today, some governments still use brutal methods like the electric chair, firing squad, and lethal injection to execute people.
While 70% of the world’s countries have abolished the death penalty, much of the United States (U.S.) continues to use the death penalty in their criminal legal proceedings. In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court briefly suspended the death penalty, deeming it unconstitutional due to its disproportionate impact on marginalized communities. However, in 1976, the Court approved new statutes, leading to the resumption of government-sanctioned executions.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, most of the time in the U.S., lethal injection is used to execute people, but some states still use other ways like electrocution, gas chambers, hanging, and firing squads.
The debate on the death penalty in the U.S. is marked by heated discussions. Some say it stops serious crimes from happening, but others disagree. Research shows that areas with more death penalty cases don’t always have fewer murders. The innocence issue within the death penalty debate gained significant attention in 2014 after the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) reported that at least 4% of those on death row are innocent.
Following this report, the Pew Research Center found that only 78% of people in the U.S. say there is some risk that an innocent person will be put to death, while only 21% think there are adequate safeguards in place to prevent that from happening. Only 30% of death penalty supporters say adequate safeguards exist to prevent innocent people from being executed.
Despite these concerns, some states are still using the death penalty. California, for example, has spent billions of dollars on it since 1978, even though it costs a lot less to put someone in prison for life without parole. This money could be used to make the legal system better or to prevent innocent people from going to jail.
The death penalty process is intricate due to the high stakes involved. These cases involve additional lawyers, witnesses, experts, an extended jury selection process, more pre-trial motions, a separate sentencing trial, and numerous other expenses, leading to exorbitant costs.
The expense associated with the death penalty is staggering. In California, the cost of administering the death penalty has surpassed $4 billion since 1978, averaging over $308 million per person for the 13 executions carried out since its reinstatement. In contrast, it costs around $200,000 to $300,000 to convict and sentence an individual to life without parole. Opting for life sentences instead of the death penalty can achieve the same deterrent effect, ensuring that criminals are kept off the streets for the remainder of their lives. The money saved from this shift could be allocated to enhance the criminal legal system, bolster public safety, or provide resources to prevent wrongful convictions.
California’s death row has grown by nearly 100 inmates, or 14%, since January 2006, when it carried out its last execution, and by 28% since 2000, according to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
In November 2016, voters in California — housing the largest death row population in the country — approved Proposition 66, aiming to streamline the death penalty process. However, just three years later in 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom declared a moratorium on capital punishment shortly after taking office. The executive order also calls for repealing California’s lethal injection protocol and the immediate closing of the execution chamber at San Quentin State Prison. The order does not provide for the release of any individual from prison or otherwise alter any current conviction or sentence
His order halted all death penalty sentences for the duration of his governorship, expressing concerns about the execution of potentially innocent individuals. Governor Newsom emphasized, “I cannot sign off on executing hundreds and hundreds of human beings, knowing that among them will be innocent human beings.”
California is not the only state whose governor has declared a moratorium on executions. The death penalty remains legal in 27 states. Six of those states have governor-imposed moratoriums.
