Capital punishment, commonly known as the death penalty, is an issue that has caused much controversy throughout the history of the United States of America. Currently, thirty-four states employ the death penalty, and the five states with the highest number of executions account for over sixty-five percent of the 1274 total executions in the country since 1976, when the Supreme Court re-affirmed the constitutionality of capital punishment. Throughout the years, millions of dollars have been wasted executing people and several people have been proven innocent after their execution. The death penalty is unjust and should be completely abolished in every state. Even though the number of death sentences per year has dropped since 1999, the fact that the death penalty is still legal in many states leaves more money to be wasted, more innocent people to be sentenced and more unjust acts to be committed upon society.
             It is commonly believed that the death penalty is less expensive than keeping a prisoner locked behind bars for the rest of their lives. This common misconception is understandable because people do not take into account the processes one must go through once sentenced to death. Capital punishment is much more expensive than life without parole because the Constitution requires a long and complex judicial process for capital cases. Each state that has legalized the death penalty has different laws regarding its methods, but typically, the legal process involves four steps: Sentencing, Direct Review, State Collateral Review, and Federal Habeas Corpus (ACLU, Death Penalty 101).
             People often ask "why should I have to pay for the meals and lodgings of criminals? Wouldn't it be much cheaper to just execute them?" Because of the complex judicial process involved in comparison to keeping someone in prison for life without parole, capital punishment is much more expensive. According to Capital Punishment: Second Edition by Micha...