Capital punishment has been in America since the early seventeenth century. The first recorded execution in America was that of Captain George Kendall in the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1608. Crimes advocating capital punishment varied among settlements during the Colonial period. In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, crimes such as witchcraft, rape, perjury, adultery, and murder warranted capital punishment. In the Quaker society, crimes such as treason and murder warranted capital punishment. In 1787, Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, held a meeting at the home of Benjamin Franklin calling for an end to public executions. In the fall of 1787, Rush developed the Society f

in. The result is that capital cases are significantly more expensive than trials for serious felonies where the death penalty is not applicable. Instead of dedicating scarce resources to executing a handful of prisoners, it would be more worthwhile to sentence capital offenders to long prison terms and use the money saved to fully fund efforts such as victim-assistance programs. In North Carolina an execution cost two million six-hundred thousand dollars, and in Texas an execution costs two million three-hundred thousand dollars. California alone spends ninety million dollars a year to execute prisoners on death row. In Florida, it costs three million two-hundred thousand dollars on each death row inmate, compared to about five-hundred thirty-five thousand for an average of forty years for each prisoner sentenced to life. This is a huge amount of tax payers money, but the public looks at it as an investment in safety since these murderers will never kill again.

risonment. Why should they be treated fairly or nice when they took someone's life. Why give them the satisfaction of living in a cell with cable TV and many other emenities that the general public does not receive. Why should they sit in jail and take up valuable space and waist important tax money that many people could use. The issue of expense is the most recent argument for the opponents of capital punishment. People commonly assumed that it cost less to execute a person than it does to imprison them for life; however, the price of execution is more costly than the cost of imprisonment. The costs of capital cases have increased in recent years. Several reasons account for these costs: Capital trials take longer to litigate; a second penalty phase is required if a guilty verdict is returned; a protracted appeals process normally follows all death sentences; and death row facilities where defendants often await execution for many years require more money to staff and mainta!

http://www.theelectricchair.com/stats.htm [8 May, 2001]

Capital punishment in the United States has undergone many modifications since the early nineteenth century. Its use gradually has become more limited and constrained. However, the death penalty has endured as a basic fact of debate in the United States. The debate over capital punishment throughout American history has been characterized by the struggle of a relative handful of groups and individuals to change the nation's broad and consistent support for the sanction. The level of opposition has varied greatly. More often than not, its strength and success have been affected by other historical events. Today thirty-seven states and the federal government authorize capital punishment for the commission of certain crimes. In most states, only murder is a capital offense. In order for a specific murder to wa

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Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)