Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 11, 2006 17:59:54 GMT -5
Punishment is not a deterrent
To the Editor:
With 2 bills currently in the Assembly and one in the Senate to abolish the death penalty and replace it with life without parole, I hope that everyone in the state is in agreement. The death penalty should be abolished. Since America's 1st execution in 1630 of John Billington, one of the original Mayflower voyagers, the death penalty has failed to prove it is an effective deterrent.
Other facts worth considering besides the barbarianism of it, is the cost. Doing away with the costly and lengthy appeals process will save taxpayers a great deal of money. Anyone who believes life in prison with no chance for parole is not a just punishment needs to visit a maximum security prison, or at least talk to someone who has been on the inside.
As a civilized society, it should be our duty to abolish this practice and seek alternatives. At a cost of $975 million a year of state tax dollars going to house prisoners, I would think it is past due we start looking into alternatives. In estimation, near 60 % of inmates in prison are non-violent offenders.
Cutting costs being spent on prisons can be put into creating more job opportunities and affordable housing, which will, in turn, lower our crime rates. We need to begin fighting drugs and crime with our brains, brawn has failed long enough.
ANDRE X. LATALLADE----Budd Lake
(source: Letter to the Editor, The Daily Record)
To the Editor:
With 2 bills currently in the Assembly and one in the Senate to abolish the death penalty and replace it with life without parole, I hope that everyone in the state is in agreement. The death penalty should be abolished. Since America's 1st execution in 1630 of John Billington, one of the original Mayflower voyagers, the death penalty has failed to prove it is an effective deterrent.
Other facts worth considering besides the barbarianism of it, is the cost. Doing away with the costly and lengthy appeals process will save taxpayers a great deal of money. Anyone who believes life in prison with no chance for parole is not a just punishment needs to visit a maximum security prison, or at least talk to someone who has been on the inside.
As a civilized society, it should be our duty to abolish this practice and seek alternatives. At a cost of $975 million a year of state tax dollars going to house prisoners, I would think it is past due we start looking into alternatives. In estimation, near 60 % of inmates in prison are non-violent offenders.
Cutting costs being spent on prisons can be put into creating more job opportunities and affordable housing, which will, in turn, lower our crime rates. We need to begin fighting drugs and crime with our brains, brawn has failed long enough.
ANDRE X. LATALLADE----Budd Lake
(source: Letter to the Editor, The Daily Record)