The death penalty

I am a good ole boy from Texas. I'm for it. This said, as we apply it, is it really effective either as a deterrent or as a fiscal tool of government. There was a time, when those convicted of a capital crime were literally taken out back and hanged. Today it is at least five years  after the crime when the execution is carried out.  That is the at least when the convicted minimally opposes the punishment. On average, it is 14years after the conviction when the execution is handled.

What happens is there is no direct correlation between the crime and punishment.  First there is the likelihood that they will NEVER be executed. Then there is the fact that a capital sentence has AUTOMATIC appeals. To the young, already criminally minded would-be murderers, it reads like this. I might be executed fifteen years or so from now. I might get killed on the street.  Jail is generally considered a possibility. Everyone on the streets knows someone who has been to the joint. Usually murders have already been down that avenue.

Life without parole or visitors is less expensive, more punitive, and  likely more corrective.  Is it cruel?  No more cruel than execution and absent the incessant appeals much more cost effective.