1 | Iftin

Abdullahi iftin
English 2010
Camille Pack
2/3/2015

The Death Penalty

The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the
Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which
codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. In the Seventh Century
B.C. Draconian Code of Athens, which made death the only punishment for
all crimes. The death sentencing were carried out by such means as
crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement. The
first recorded execution in the new colonies was that of Captain George
Kendall in the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1608. Kendall was executed for
being a spy for Spain. In 1622 the first legal execution of a criminal in the
American Colonies occurs in Virginia with the execution of Daniel Frank for
Theft.
Despite the overwhelming global trend against executions, a number
of reason for support of the death penalty have come up. The death penalty
continues to be an issue of controversy and is an issue that has been

2 | Iftin

debated in the United States and it will be continued to be debated on for

the future. The controversy of the United States keeping the death penalty
has been going on for many decades. Opposition to the death penalty
peaked in 1966, rising to 47% opposition, higher than those who supported it
42%, the rest 11% had no opinion. Some people may say that the death
penalty needs to still exists, because we need to be tough on crimes and
they agree that crime is evil and we must put an end to it. They believe that
death penalty is necessary to deliver justice to the victims of murder and
violence. The death penalty may give comfort to those families who have
lost a loved one due to a heinous crime. It is true that criminals need to be
held accountable for their evil actions and they should take full responsibility

3 | Iftin

for the punishment they receive.

Criminals being convicted of such heinous crimes deserve what they

get, but there are the few that are innocent that slip through our fingers of
the system and are put to death. We obviously cannot find every innocent
that is sentenced, that is impossible. So what should we do about it? What
we can do is start by looking at laws that need to be revised and improved
for more effective and more humane sentencing and executions. Examples

4 | Iftin

would be such as less costly executions, better transparency from the

government, more data and revision to improve administering of anesthesia
for lethal injection, and less influence from public outrage that could
undercut the correct process of sentencing and execution.

People may say that the death penalty is very harsh but it is very clear
that the convict brought the punishment on themselves, when they took the
life of someone else. Criminals should know that if they commit a serious
crime then the punishment is going to be serious. Also having the capital
punishment may have the impact to deter some crimes, control crime and to
decrease crime. Although that Scientific studies have consistently failed to
demonstrate that executions deter people from committing crime any more
than long prison sentences Some of the states still have the death penalty
because it gives them a powerful symbol for the state rights. Religious
groups largely support the death penalty but color makes a difference (Pew
Research Analysis Center). It showed that 63% of white Americans support
the death penalty, compared with 36% of blacks and 40% of Hispanics.

5 | Iftin

We have many methods of execution in the U.S such as Lethal

Injection, Electrocution, Gas Chamber, Firing Squad and Hanging. Lethal
injection is the practice of killing a person using a lethal dose of drugs
administered intravenously. Two methods of lethal injection exist today, one
using a three-drug protocol and another using one large dose of a
barbiturate. The Electrocution method is death caused by electric shock, it is
deliberately used as the death penalty method, a jolt of between 500 and
2000 volts, which lasts for about 30 seconds, is given. The Gas Chamber
method is the condemned person is strapped to a chair in an airtight
chamber. Below the chair rests a pail of sulfuric acid. A long stethoscope is
typically affixed to the inmate so that a doctor outside the chamber can
pronounce death. Once everyone has left the chamber, the room is sealed.
The warden then gives a signal to the executioner who flicks a lever that
releases crystals of sodium cyanide into the pail. This causes a chemical
reaction that releases hydrogen cyanide gas (Weisberg, 1991). The firing

6 | Iftin

squad method is the inmate is typically bound to a chair with leather straps
across his waist and head, in front of an oval-shaped canvas wall. The chair is
surrounded by sandbags to absorb the inmate's blood. A black hood is pulled
over the inmate's head. A doctor locates the inmate's heart with a
stethoscope and pins a circular white cloth target over it. Standing in an
enclosure 20 feet away, five shooters are armed with a 30 caliber rifles
loaded with single rounds. One of the shooters is given blank rounds. Each of
the shooters aims his rifle through a slot in the canvas and fires at the
inmate (Weisberg, 1991). The Hanging method is the inmate may be
weighed the day before the execution, and a rehearsal is done using a
sandbag of the same weight as the prisoner. This is to determine the length
of 'drop' necessary to ensure a quick death. If the rope is too long, the
inmate could be decapitated, and if it is too short, the strangulation could
take as long as 45 minutes. The rope, which should be 3/4-inch to 1 1/4-inch
in diameter, must be boiled and stretched to eliminate spring or coiling. The
knot should be lubricated with wax or soap "to ensure a smooth sliding
action," according to the 1969 U.S. Army manual. (The Corrections
Professional, 1996 and Hillman, 1992).
The most common method is lethal Injection. But even though with the
constant preference towards using it by some of the states, lethal injection is
not perfect as it is now. There are possible mistakes that can happen when
injecting it to the person, and nobody would know since there is no extra
person to verify that the drug was properly given. Research that was done by

7 | Iftin

a group led by Koniaris found that most anesthesia that is administered in

lethal injections are given by executioners that are poorly trained in the
matter. In fact, most inmates did not have enough anesthesia compared to
other patients. This means that inmates most likely felt the effects of drugs
administered used to kill. This cannot be acceptable seeing as it does not fall
under the 8th amendment which states that cruel and unusual punishment
shall not be inflicted. In order to keep the support of the public as well,
inmates need to be put to death as humanely as one can so that the death
penalty can continue to effectively punish those that have committed the
most heinous of crimes. If all that the public is shown as far as the
sentencing and executions of criminals is what is currently being shown in
the news, on TV, and on the internet, the views on the issue and the
decisions made are going to suddenly change direction. Because from the
possibilities of biased sources fed to society, the prevalent emotional
overreaction rather than reasonable logic, and even the massive leverage
the victims families have that can influence greatly the outcome of the
sentence of the criminal without even being certain of his innocence.

8 | Iftin

But, nevertheless there are still people, specifically abolitionists, that

believe the best course of action to fix all the reasons listed above is to
abolish capital punishment from our country altogether. We as a group feel
that those people are not understanding that capital punishment is not there
to put grief or anger to rest, or so that society can feel closure; capital
punishment is there to serve the justice that fits the crime committed.
Another point they give is that the death penalty is not a good deterrent for
criminals to be committing these heinous crimes. Unfortunately, there is not
enough evidence that shows whether deterrence is certain or not and
besides, capital punishment is a consequence, not a prevention method.

The controversy against the death penalty are mainly ethical in their
nature, that it is basically wrong to kill and that when the state kills it sends
out the wrong message to the rest of the country. The death penalty makes
people believe that killing people is morally allowed. There is also the fact
that you might execute innocent people. Innocent people can always be
released from prison, but they can never be brought back from the dead.
When people have been killed there is no chance of rehabilitation or
criminals trying to make up for crimes. The wrongful execution of an
innocent person is an injustice that can never be rectified.

9 | Iftin