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I have many thoughts and views on the death penalty, not just because I now sit on death
row, but because I have become conscious of the entire capital punishment scheme! I have read many
times where politicians claim that the death penalty is a deterent to crime and costs less than incarcerating someone for
life. Both of these statements are lies! The facts are that the death penalty has never been
proven to deter crime and it is not economically efficient! It costs less to incarcerate a prisoner for life than it does
to execute one. An article published on January 1, 2000 by the Palm Beach Post (Florida) states that enforcing the death penalty
costs Florida $51 million a year, far above what it would cost to punish all first degree murderers with life in prison without
parole. Former Attorney General Janet Reno has said, " I have inquired for most of my adult life about studies that might
show that the death penalty is a deterant. And I have not seen any research that would substantiate that point." (Reuters,
1/21/00)
So with these facts stated, the only excuse one has for the death penalty now is strictly revenge. The only
ones who are being affected by the death penalty are the poor and minorities. There are studies everywhere to back this up.Those
who have money do not end up on death row. I have seen this personally because in Houston, TX, Harris County has lost only
two capital murder cases in which they were seeking the death penalty and both cases involved white
defendants who were millionaires! Prosecutors say they only seek the death penalty in cases where they feel
they can secure a guilty verdict because it costs so much to prosecute these cases and involves a lot of time to
prepare. Which means if one has MONEY to hire enough lawyers, they will not come to death row.
NO person should be on death row because of evidence consisting of hearsay and lies, and yet there are many
here on death row because of such things. If they would have had money, they surely would not be here. The two cases in Houston
that were aquitted I mentioned earlier had more physical evidence against them than many of those here who were convicted!
Once again it shows that it is all about money!
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