Open Letter to The Federal Bureau of Prisons
Dear The Federal Bureau of Prisons,
In my English class, we have been completing a project about different societal issues, and I chose to do my project on topics regarding the natures of evil. Through this project, I was better informed about the criminal justice system, and I decided to focus on the controversial topic regarding the abolishment of the death penalty. I wanted to write to this department specifically because The Federal Bureau of Prisons is responsible for the housing and execution of death row prisoners. In research done throughout my project, I have received a lot of information regarding funding put towards the death penalty system, and experiences from families who have watched humans go through with capital punishment. The death penalty is a cruel punishment for anybody to go through. The government should never be responsible for the murder of somebody; the world is cruel enough as it is. Why should the government participate in this killing game? I argue that the death penalty should be abolished because the death penalty is too expensive, and the death penalty doesn’t actually provide relief for grieving families.
To start, The death penalty is expensive; it uses up too much of taxpayers money. To give some context on this issue, it is proven that capital punishment is far more expensive than sentencing criminals to life without parole. “Death Penalty Information Center“ gives us information as to why capital punishment is so expensive under their resource, “Costs”: “Some of the reasons for the high cost of the death penalty are the longer trials and appeals required when a person’s life is on the line, the need for more lawyers and experts on both sides of the case, and the relative rarity of executions.” The death penalty system puts in a lot of funding towards trials and lawyers for a sentence, when the criminal almost always dies before the actual execution. This is information is important because criminals might as well be sentenced to life without parole because when most criminals die on death row waiting for their execution, all the money put into their case is wasted. Additionally, in the article, “Executing the Will of the Voters?: A roadmap to mend or end the California legislature’s multi-billion dollar death penalty debacle” written by Judge Arthur L. Alarcon & Paula M. Mitchell, they share with us a research study made in 2011 regarding costs put into the death row system: “The study revealed that, since 1978, California’s current system has cost the state’s taxpayers $4 billion more than a system that has life in prison without the possibility of parole (‘LWOP’) as its most severe penalty.” In a matter of just 33 years in California, 4 billion dollars has been put into capital punishment for the execution of 13 humans. Every year, American citizens living under poverty struggle as they pay their taxes, just for their money to go to this crucial system. Would you want your money that you worked hard for to go towards a system of murder? This money can be better funded and put into either the education system, support for communities in poverty, double funding for citizenship and immigration services, or even double funding for substance use and mental health services.
Furthermore, the death penalty doesn’t actually provide relief for grieving families. To give some context on this issue, when criminals are sentenced to capital punishment, this can be seen as an escape from paying for their crimes. Criminals should live everyday paying for what they did. They should wake up every morning reminded of their crimes. When families of victims see the criminal go through death row, studies show that it reminds families of past trauma. Robert T Muller Ph.D shares research done by a professor at University of Minnesota about co-victims’ reactions to capital punishment in his article titled, “Death Penalty May Not Bring Peace To Victims’ Families”: “…only 2.5 percent achieved true closure, and 20.1 percent said that the execution did not help them heal. Co-victims in the study also expressed feelings of emptiness when the death penalty did not ‘bring back the victim.’ “ Co-victims don’t feel relief after the death penalty is done, the author in fact describes the co-victims to feel “empty”. This is important because co-victims won’t find comfort in the criminal being killed. Victims feel more weight on their shoulder after being reminded of trauma and witnessing the criminals execution, so why put a human through that? Additionally, Robert T Muller Ph.D. shares more information about co-victims pushing through death penalty trials: “The long judicial process between conviction and execution, which can span many years in some cases, also prolongs grief and pain for co-victims. […] Through media exposure, they repeatedly relive traumatic events.” The average time from sentencing to execution is about 16 years, sometimes more. When co-victims continuously go through court dates, this reminds co-victims of trauma and pain that they try to live past. This is important because when co-victims are traumatized from past events that lead up to this execution, they need to do all they can to seek help for the sake of their mental stability. Constant reminders of the crimes the criminal has commited is proven to be painful for victims to remember and in a sense “relive,” and these victims deserve to prosper past pain rather than feel like they’re stuck in the past. What good does an eye for an eye do when it comes to murder?
Some might argue that the death penalty is a deserved punishment for horrific crimes. Paul Muschick, a reporter and editor, shares a common idea in regards to the death penalty in his work entitled, “Should the Death Penalty Be Allowed?”:“It’s also necessary to have capital punishment because some crimes simply are so horrific that any other punishment, including life in a cage, is insufficient.” Muschick explains that life in prison can not make up for horrific crimes, that death is the only appropriate punishment for horrific crimes. However it is also true that the legal right to life also belongs to criminals. Execution is unconstitutional according to the eighth amendment. Interactive Constitution states directly the eighth amendment: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Human life is valuable; regardless a criminal or not, yet the death penalty system throws human life away like trash. Capital punishment can put innocent lives at risk and serves no purpose more effectively than a less severe punishment. Therefore, no crime should label somebody’s life as worthless; death is not the only way to serve justice.
Therefore, I implore you to abolish the death penalty system. This will make a difference because it will save innocent lives, save billions of dollars that could be used for better purposes, and help victims better move on with their lives without ongoing reminders of trauma. Under no circumstance is murder acceptable, yet the government continues to allow capital punishment under the name of justice.
Thank you,
Alexis Rodriguez
