This Texas Politics article by Bobby Cervantes from the San Antonio Express News posted on 02/25/2011 discusses the suggestion to eliminate the death penalty in Texas.
The article discusses, how although the notion is already a long shot, if not a shot in the dark, in the 'tough-on-crime Texas' state, there has been no statewide study on the total cost of capital punishment on the state's budget to date yet and it would be in the state's interest to do so. The argument states that now is a perfect time for a re-evaluating the necessity for capital punishment, being that it is very, very expensive on the state and the costs only seem to continue to rise. This piece suggests, that by eliminating the death penalty, the effect will help contribute in saving the state a lot of money and improve the Texas economy.
The evidence and numbers presented are said to vary by many anti-death groups but a common estimate is 1.2 million dollars per capitol case, from start to finish and often times more, when including post conviction litigation costs including the execution itself. This estimated figure can be multiplied by the 315 Texas offenders currently on death row to see a clearer picture on the size of the impact that this is having on the economy.
The argument that was made in part by the author for presenting the article and mainly from a reader, whom the author cites as making the original suggestion, says that the Texas economy is currently struggling and the costs for capital punishment are only going to continue to go up and so now is the ideal time to consider changing the state's very firm position on the topic and issue.
I have to say that I disagree 100%.
Capital punishment is a sensitive issue and should be treated as such since we are dealing with life and death, issues of morality, governing society and consequences from citizens' actions when horrible and unthinkable deeds are done to other people. That said, I don't believe that the economy or financial revenue is a valid enough reason to make such a drastic change to the system that is in place. The state may presently be in a bind needing money but problems like that will always come and hopefully go with the times and can be addressed in other ways, with other solutions and this proposal, although might help, would not fully fix the current problem of the economy on it's own.
Money should not be a reason to change our moral standards of dicipline and ethics of right and wrong and certainly not worth bargaining over issues of principles, otherwise we are just simply selling our souls or whoring ourselves out like prostitutes as a society.
If we were to make a change like that, it should not be for monetary gain at all but instead change it for an ideal of better morality and better principle, or leave it for the ideal that it is best in place to preserve a safer and more secure world to live in, where the weight of one's actions comes with heavy consequences, up to and including fatality.
Capital punishment- the death penalty for crimes committed, weather you believe in it or not, or support it or not, just needs to remain something that is not changed as a way to save ourselves money, even when we need it, or to help balance our pocketbooks and reduce deficits. There are other ways and things the state can do for that, there are other corners that can be cut, taxes to be levied in balancing the budget and other taxes that can be raised, before we sell off our most sacred ideas on government and lifestyle.
The writer's suggestion can also easily be perceived as a smoke screen and a hidden agenda, by those that oppose the death penalty all together. The reason given is not good enough for me.
We could tax the price of tobacco even further to something like fifteen dollars for a single pack of cigarettes to raise additional money, or the state legislature could propose to tax the cost of booze and alcoholic beverages even further as well. We could levy a sales tax for on-line purchases of things that are bought on websites such as Amazon.com or eBay that currently have no sales tax associated with buying items. Furthermore, the citizens of this state could even hold our government representatives responsible and their jobs accountable for the current state of the economy, by voting to change political power as a statement of example of what happens when government doesn't do it's job.
What we should not do, is allow our own moral codes of conduct, to be put up on a chopping block and to be bought and sold, in such a fickle way, as if we have lost our dignity and humanity all together. The decision regarding weather or not capital punishment is alright, should not be a topic associated with finances at all, regardless of the current dilemma of the state economy, especially since it currently does not hold the single power to make or break it.
Not a fair exchange.
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