Fair and simple, this measure should pass so that we can wash our hands of the death penalty once and for all. Some people may deserve to die, but the problems with capital punishment (also known as the death penalty) lie in the process rather than the ethics. 

This November, voters will decide whether or not to abolish the death penalty. Shouldthe SAFE California Act of 2012 be passed, the budget savings from abolishing the death penalty will be put into a fund and spent on the investigation of unsolved rapes and murders.

The current emphasis on prison spending leads to a vicious cycle where less money spent on education lowers graduation rates, which leads to increases in crime rates, causing an increase in the amount of money spent on prisons.

Statistically, there is no evidence showing lower murder rates in states that have capital punishment. In fact, states with capital punishment actually have higher murder rates, according to deathpenaltyinfo.org.

Every year, California spends around $49,000 per prisoner and almost $100,000 on death row inmates, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. A total of $184 million a year is spent on special housing, security, legal resources, and other costs for those to be executed.

On the other hand, California spends less than $9,000 on each student, and in total more money on prisons than on education. In addition, California is ranked number 47 in the United States on the amount the state spends per student, according to Education Weekly.

It is understandable that killing someone who has committed an atrocious crime may bring peace to the victim’s loved ones. However the fact that killing someone through death row costs more money than giving him life without parole, reveals some obvious flaws in our justice system. Voting yes on abolishing the death penalty this November will be a first step to correcting California’s flawed system.