The Death Penalty

Reads at about grade 6Both sides shown11 sources cited

The death penalty is when the government puts a person to death for the worst crimes. That almost always means murder. It is also called capital punishment.

What it is

The death penalty, also called capital punishment, is when the state kills a person for the worst crimes -- in the United States, that almost always means murder. The death penalty is still legal in California, but no one has been put to death here since 2006. In 2019, the governor paused all executions -- a pause known as a moratorium -- and ordered the state's execution chamber closed. About 580 people are on California's "death row," the part of prison for people sentenced to die, the largest death row in the country. In the last few decades, California has carried out only 13 executions. Research shows some things clearly. Death penalty cases cost more than life in prison without parole (prison for life, with no chance of release): California's nonpartisan state budget office says ending the death penalty would save about $150 million a year. Studies also find that mistakes happen -- one national study estimates that at least 4.1% of people sentenced to death were likely innocent -- and the victim's race has been linked to who gets a death sentence. One big question is not settled: does the death penalty stop future murders? Scaring people away from crime this way is called deterrence, and the National Research Council reviewed decades of studies but found the research does not show whether the death penalty lowers murder, raises it, or does nothing. This is also a fight about values. Supporters say some crimes are so evil that death is the only fair answer. Opponents say the state should not kill, especially when the system can be unfair and a mistake can never be undone.

How it works

How it works: Under California law, a person can face the death penalty only for certain murders, called "special circumstance" murders. The state's official voter guide says a special circumstance must be charged by the prosecutor and then proven in court; examples include killing for money or killing more than one person. A death penalty trial has two steps. First, a jury decides if the person is guilty. If the answer is yes, the jury then chooses between death and life without parole. Because death is final, the law gives these cases many appeals -- a request for a higher court to check the case for mistakes. These reviews, the voter guide says, "can take a couple of decades to complete in California," and that long process is one big reason the cases cost so much. California's recent history shows how split people are. In 2016, voters were asked to end the death penalty (Proposition 62); they voted no, and the measure lost about 53% to 47%. On the same ballot, they passed Proposition 66, a plan to speed executions up. Then in 2019, Governor Newsom paused all executions. So today the punishment is still legal -- voters have kept it -- but no one is being put to death. Why people debate it: both sides care about justice and human life, but they weigh things differently. One side focuses on the victims and on the belief that the worst killers deserve the ultimate penalty. The other focuses on the risk of killing an innocent person, on unequal treatment, and on the belief that the state should not take a life.

The debate — equal weight, both sides

The case for keeping the death penalty

Most often made by prosecutors, police groups, and many victims' families, and by conservatives. But some people across the spectrum back it too, on the belief that the worst crimes deserve the ultimate punishment.

Some crimes are so cruel that no smaller punishment fits. Supporters point out who gets death sentences: "child killers, rape/torture murderers, serial murderers, and cop killers." They say real justice means the worst killers pay with their own lives. As the official 2016 ballot argument put it, "for the very worst criminals, there needs to be a death penalty." Ending it, they warned, "denies justice and closure to victims' families." There is also public safety: a person who is executed can never kill again -- not another inmate, not a guard, not someone else, if he escapes or is let out. As one longtime supporter told Congress, there is "no more important function of the state governments than the protection of their citizens from murder." Some scholars argue the death penalty can even save innocent lives, by scaring off would-be killers. Reviewing newer studies, two law professors wrote that "each execution deters some eighteen murders" on average, and if that is even close to true, they argue, then refusing to execute lets more innocent people die. California voters heard the case to end it -- as recently as 2016, they chose to keep it.

The case for ending the death penalty

Most often made by civil-rights and defense lawyers, many faith groups, and the political left. But a growing number of conservatives and libertarians now oppose it too — on cost, error, and distrust of government.

The worst danger, opponents say, is putting an innocent person to death -- a mistake that can never be undone. One national study found that at least 4.1% of people sentenced to death were likely innocent, and in 2016 the group fighting faster executions warned that "more than 150 innocent people have been sentenced to death." As one retired judge put it, "if someone's executed and later found innocent, we can't go back." Opponents also say the system is not fair. A federal review looked at many studies and found that in 82% of them, the victim's race shaped who was charged with a capital crime or sentenced to death. California's own governor said death sentences fall unfairly on people of color, on people with mental disabilities, and on people who cannot afford a costly lawyer. They say it costs too much, too. The governor noted the state has spent "$5 billion on a death penalty system that has executed 13 people," and the state budget office says ending the death penalty would save about $150 million a year. And the main promise -- fewer murders -- has never been proven: the National Research Council reviewed decades of studies and found the evidence does not show whether the death penalty lowers murder, raises it, or does nothing. A punishment that is final, unequal, costly, and unproven, they say, is one the state should not use.

Sources

Behind the summary

Cited by "The case for keeping the death penalty"

Cited by "The case for ending the death penalty"

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