Murders and violent crimes are increasing in the US. A recent example is a stabbing that killed a 25-year-old woman in Atlanta. Politicians disagree on the appropriate punishment for violent crimes like murder. Congressman Hank Johnson opposes the death penalty, believing it is immoral to take a life. However, Governor Nathan Deal supports stricter punishments for criminals, including making it harder to appeal federal death sentences. There are many arguments for and against the death penalty around issues like overcrowded prisons, costs of appeals, and risks of executing innocent people. Most US citizens support the death penalty based on past polls, but there are disadvantages such as high costs and risks of wrongful convictions. The debate involves

1. Murders and violent crimes are on the rise.
The latest example was the stabbing that took the life
of a 25 year-old woman at an apartment complex near
Norcross which was reported by the Atlanta Journal
and Constitution.
This is but one of the recent assaults that took
the life of innocent victims. Such news is not only
disparaging, it moves concerned citizens to seriously
consider what should be done with such violent
offenders.
Lawmakers and government officials take
very different stands on what is appropriate
punishment for violent offences like murder, but the
question that remains is, how can we effectively deal
with such persons?
In an interview with Congressman Hank
Johnson, he made it clear that regardless of what an
offender does he does not support the death penalty.
Congressman Johnson stated, “I oppose the death
penalty because I believe it is immoral to take life as
retribution or to punish,” stating that he considered it
as inhumane.
Governor Nathan Deal does not agree with
that reasoning. When asked about his view of the
death penalty, he stated that he supports the death
penalty and that he believes stricter punishment of
violent criminals is needed to reduce crime. He is in
favor of making Federal Death Penalty appeals
harder to get and standing behind sentences as they
were originally imposed by the court.
This lends to the many reasons to support or
oppose the death penalty in order to free society of
violent and sometimes sadistic criminals. According
to the Gallup poll, the majority of U.S. Citizens
support the use of the death penalty, which reached
an 80 percent support rate in 1994 and remained
stable between 64 and 70 percent since 2000.
Regardless of the stand an individual makes
on the issue, several supporting issues must be
addressed. One major issue is where to keep those
convicted of such horrifying crimes and for how long,
because overcrowding of prisons is a clear problem.
Such a problem that in California it is possible that 80
percent of murderers that are eligible for parole are
released according to Christine Ward at ABC
Eyewitness News.
This statistic applies due to the fact that three-
fourths of the murders that take place do not meet the
criteria to warrant the death penalty according to the
Texas Law Review. In order to warrant the death
penalty there must be aggravating factors such as the
killing of special victims
based on their vulnerability, killings committed by
persons serving prison sentences, multiple-victim
shootings, killings committed in the course of crimes for
monetary gain, crimes committed while fleeing a lawful
arrest,and killings of police officers, correctional staff, or
public officials.
The costs of trying a death penalty case is
substantially higher than lower cases is yet another
consideration that must be made. There is the question of
fairness and competence of attorneys’ assigned to indigent
prisoners, the possibility of an innocent person being
convicted and sentenced to death, the question of the
ethics of those who present evidence, and the decision to
Close up of
Governor
Nathan
Deal
Credit to
Brian
Robinson
Time Magazine-Connie Butts
The Death Penalty: Where Do You Stand?

2. seek the death penalty due to the race of the perpetrator
and the victim.
Commenting on the disadvantages of the death
penalty, Richard Dieter, Executive Director of the death
penalty information center said that” the death penalty is
one of the most expensive state programs and it produces
no measurable gain in public safety.” Attributing to the
fact that over 99 percent do not result in execution, cases
are retried or overturned, and often result in a life sentence.
On the other hand Kent Scheidegger, Legal
Director for the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation argued
that the delay and expense incurred in reviewing capital
cases has nothing to do with the guilt of the accused,only
the deliberation of what the most appropriate sentence for
the crime.
The question of competence regarding attorneys
assigned to indigent prisoners has also been questioned in
death penalty cases. More time is needed to prepare a
death penalty case. Pretrial motions have to be filed and
answered,more experts must be hired, more attorneys are
appointed to the defense, and jurors have to be
individually interviewed before being sequestered and
then the trials and appeals start according to Richard
Deiter.
The appointment of extra attorneys and the
hiring of expert witnesses require both time and
resources. If competent attorneys are not appointed
time and resources are lost. These trials are composed
of two parts, the first determining guilt and the second
which is the sentencing or punishment phase, as
stated by the Idaho State Judiciary.
In opposition to the sentiments of
Congressman Johnson, District Attorney Joshua
Marquis commented that the idea of a public defender
fighting against all odds against a team of
prosecutors, thus putting an innocent life in jeopardy
is fallacy because todays public defenders, “rival
some of the best rivals retained privately” and that
many giant law firms now provide pro-bono council
and partner with lawyers who promote indigent
capital defense.
Clearly, the battle lines are drawn between
those who support and oppose the death penalty. It is
the individual responsibility of the citizens to
determine where their allegiance lies. There are other
issues that must be considered as well, one of which
is the decision to pursue a death penalty case based
on the ethnicities of the victim verses the defendant.
Knowledge is the weapon that must be used
in order to determine individual stances and make an
informed choice on the issue. Regardless of the
choice individuals make, there will be consequences
associated with each choice. This is an issue each
Congressman Johnson said, “It is the ultimate
injustice when an innocent person is executed for a
crime they did not commit. When an innocent
person convicted and sentenced to die is
exonerated before being put to death, it is an
example of why the ultimate penalty of death,
which is irreversible once carried out, should be
abolished due to man’s fallibility.”
Congressman Hank Johnson (ajc.com)

3. person must seriously deliberate upon because,
inevitably the future of the U.S. citizens are involved.