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• Kevin Ryan

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Kevin Ryan Project #2: Part 1 I. Introduction A. Attention Statement/Briefly State Problem 1. Hello and thank you for considering my argument to change an important part of our justice system. 2. Briefly state the problem: Since 1976, 1,526 people have been executed, according to a continuously updated database at the Death Penalty Information Center, located at deathpenaltyinfo.org. Capital punishment is cruel and unusual punishment, it is more costly than life sentences, it does not deter crime, and too many who are falsely convicted are put to death. B. That is why I propose that the United States Congress should pass a new bill outlawing the death penalty. II. Significance A. Harm 1: The death penalty is expensive. 1. A 2016 report by Torin McFarland, in the Susquehanna University Political Review, found the costs of the death penalty across the country amount to $3 billion more than if the inmates had stayed in prison for the rest of their lives. 2. The death penalty is a waste of money. It costs more than a life sentence.

3. Saved taxpayer dollars are better spent directly helping the victims’ families. B. Harm 2: The death penalty does not significantly deter crime. 1. According to a 2009 report in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, the overwhelming majority of the world’s leading criminologists agree that capital punishment does not significantly deter crime. 2. If the death penalty does not deter crime more than a long-term prison sentence, then the prison sentence is sufficient. C. Harm 3: Too many falsely convicted people are executed. 1. A research article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America on May 20, 2014, estimates that if all defendants sentenced to death remained so indefinitely, at least 4.1% would be exonerated. 2. There is no excuse for an innocent person to be put to death by the government. The death penalty should not exist if they cannot ensure that no innocent person will be put to death. D. Harm 4: Many executions are botched, with convicts suffering unnecessary cruel and unusual punishment. 1. In a May 1, 2017 article in The New Republic, located at newrepublic.com, professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College, Austin Sarat, found that from 1890-2010, 3% of executions were botched in some way.

2. The Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states that “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted”. 3. The suffering which results from a botched execution should be considered cruel and unusual punishment, and therefore unconstitutional. III. Inherency A. The United States has implemented capital punishment since its inception. It is used as a deterrent, but there is another dangerous “eye for an eye” mentality which looks to use the death penalty as a form of revenge. Death is seen as the ultimate justice for the worst crimes. B. Current policy allows state and federal governments to take lives as a punishment. There have been many attempts at abolishing the death penalty, but none have worked so far. Horrific crimes can keep people’s emotions from allowing them to think rationally. IV. Plan A. Agent: United States Congress B. Mandates 1. Congress will pass a bill outlawing capital punishment 2. The federal government will cease and dismantle all capital punishment activity and infrastructure.

3. All states will be forced to cease and dismantle all capital punishment activity and infrastructure. 4. A special fund will be created for the families of victims of especially horrific crimes (similarly defined as was for the death penalty). 5. The federal government will be allowed to maintain one capital punishment facility reserved for those in prison who manage to continue committing horrific acts of murder and violence. C. Enforcement 1. The U.S. Department of Justice, in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, will oversee the dismantling of the capital punishment program. 2. The U.S. Department of Justice, in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Prisons will also oversee state justice and prison agencies, making sure operations are ceasing and being dismantled. D. Funding and Staffing 1. The cost of dismantling the system will pay for itself from the savings of ceasing the death penalty. 2. Some of the extra savings going forward will be put into a fund for victims’ families. 3. Most staff previously in charge of the penalty will be laid off. Some new staff will be hired to oversee the victims’ family fund. E. Timeline: Immediately

V. Solvency A. Harm 1: We save taxpayer dollars. 1. By saving $1.12 million dollars per death row inmate, according to the aforementioned Susquehanna University report, funds can be allocated in ways that more directly benefits victims’ families. 2. Detention facilities with life without parole prisoners can be a focus of improvement with the extra funds available. B. Harm 2: Resources will be freed up. 1. Money and staff assigned to capital punishment can be reallocated to areas with better crime deterrents. 2. Educational programs can be expanded. 3. Prisons can be improved. C. Harm 3: The falsely convicted will have a second chance at life. 1. Although they may be falsely imprisoned, those who are falsely convicted can at least have a chance of being released upon appeal. 2. Psychological damage will be spared among those who would have been responsible for the death of the innocent. D. Harm 4: Unnecessary suffering will be avoided. 1. Prisoners will no longer suffer the anguish caused from the anticipation of being put to death. 2. Prisoners will no longer suffer the tortures inflicted during a botched execution.

3. Psychological damage will be spared among those who would have been responsible for botched executions. VI. Advantages: There are some additional advantages to the issues solved above. A. More time is allowed for a prisoner to repent and rehabilitate. B. Rather than setting a double standard, we as a society show criminals that it is never okay to take a life. C. Victims’ families are spared the anguish of a long capital punishment trial. D. Criminals’ families are spared the anguish of a long capital punishment trial and of losing a loved one. E. The United States is the only developed Western nation that administers capital punishment. By outlawing it now, we set an example for the other few democracies around the world who still implement it. VII. Conclusion A. Abolishing capital punishment puts the focus on life. Since it does not sufficiently deter crime, death penalty funds can instead be used to deter crime better and in ways that support families of victims and criminals. As a society, we can live with less guilt and suffering from mistakes inherent in the current system. B. Capital punishment is an outdated system created when we didn’t have a full understanding of its effects on crime, economics, psychology, and medicine. The lack of evidence regarding its efficacy in deterring crime, its cost, and its failures at taking the correct lives in humane ways, all show why it’s time for the death penalty to be killed.