Theoldlawofaneyeforaneyeleavesthewholeworldblind

~MartinLutherKingJr.
The death penalty has always been used in capital punishment, but many people
including myself see it as an inhumane way of reforming society. People support the death
penalty for reasons like the victims natural rights were violated and therefore needs justice.
There aremanypeoplewhoareagainstitforreasonssuchasprolonged sufferingforthevictims
familiesalsoreligiousperspectives.

The death penalty was created in the laws of Ancient Athens. The Draconian Code of

Ancient Athens in the 7th century made it so that thedeathpenaltywastheonlypunishmentfor

almost alloffenses.TheCodeofKingHammurabiofBabyloninthe18thcenturymadeasystem
where the death penalty was common for 25 different types of crimes such as If a man has
borne falsewitnessinatrial,orhasnotestablishedthestatementthathehasmade,ifthatcasebe
a capital trial, that man shall be put to death. The death penalty was also used in The Twelve
TablesofRomansLawinthe5thcenturyaswellasHittitescodeofthe14thcentury.

The Death Penalty made its way to North America in 1608 when colonist from Britain
brought the British disciplinary system with them to the Americas. The first recorded death
penalty was for treason. Trading with Indians, killing chickens as well as stealing could lead to
execution in the British American colonies of Virginia. In 1682 Pennsylvania limits the death
penalty to the offense of treason and murder in 1775 during the outbreak of the American
Revolution all 13 colonies had criminal codes which allowed for the death penalty. Different

types of The death penalty include Lethal injection, Electrocution, Gas Chamber, Firing squad,
and Hanging. Hanging was thefirst method ofexecutionusedinthedeathpenalty.Itisstillused
today but is not common. Itconsistsofarope3
/4inchto11/4inch indiametertoassurethatit
is not too long or too short. If it is too long it could decapitate the inmate, if it is too short
strangling time could take up to 45 minutes.Justbefore theprisonerisexecuted,theirhandsand
feet are tied andabagisplacedovertheheadwiththenooseplacedaroundtheneck.Atrapdoor
is opened below and the inmates weight causes them to fracture or dislocation of the neck.
InstantDeathisrarelyoccurs.

Electrocution was founded as a more humane way of execution. The firstelectricchair

was built in New York in 1888 and was used for the first time in 1890 on prisoner William
Kemlee. To prepare for electrocution the prisoner is shaved toreduceresistancetoelectricity.A
metal cap is placed on the head over a sponge moistened with salt and a water solution, aswell
as strapsacrosstheirhead,chest,groin,arms,andlegs.Ajoltbetween5002000voltsisgivenin
30 second intervals.Iftheprisonerdoes notdiethefirsttime,asecondjoltisgiven.Theprisoner
cannotgetanautopsyuntiltheorganscooloff.

Anotherformofexecutionisdeathbyfiringsquad.Thefirstdeathrecorded by firingsquad

was in 1913. Andriza Mircovich was the first and last execution by firing squad in Nevada.
Today firing squad is only utilized by Oklahoma, and no other state. In the use of the firing
squad method the prisoner is strapped to a chair, with sandbags surrounding it so it can absorb
theblood.

 A doctor locates the heart of the prisoner and marks it witharedcloth,asatargetforthefiring

squad. A firing squad consisting of 5 men with all 30. caliber rifles, stand 20 feet away and
prepare for the execution. If the shooters miss the target, the inmate slowly bleedstodeath. An
oldertypeofcapitalpunishmentisthegaschambermethod.

On February 8th 1924, the first recorded execution by gas chamber was held in Carson
City, Nevada. Gee Jon was executed by lethal gas. It was deemed as a more humane way of
execution regarding hanging, firingsquad,orexecution.Todayonly6states,includingArizona,
California, Mississippi, Maryland, Missouri, and Wyoming authorize the gas chamberasalegal
method of execution. The inmate is strapped to a chair in a room by themselves and under the
chair is a bucket of sulfuric acid. A long stethoscope is attached the prisoner's chest leading to
outside the door so the doctor can pronounce death. The executioner flips a switch and the
bucket below the inmate is filled with crystals of sodium cyanide. A chemical reactionbetween
the sulfuric acid and the sodium cyanide combine to make hydrogen cyanide gaswhichfillsthe
room so no oxygen is left for the prisoner to survive. The prisoner dies from hypoxia which is
insufficientoxygentothetissues.
The last and most common formofcapitalpunishmenteventoday,islethalinjection.On
December 7 1982 in Huntsville, Texas the first execution by lethalinjectionwasgiven toaman
by the name of Charles Brooks Jr. To prepare for execution the prisoner is most likely to be
given a change of clothes, a showerandafinalmeal.Aftertheprisoneristakentoaroomwhere
the execution will take place. They are usually strapped down to a gurney while 2 IVs are
inserted into the inmate's veins. One consists of a saline solution, that begins immediately. Not
until given the signal the executioner gives the prisoner sodium thiopental through the second

IV, which puts the inmate to sleep. Once asleep next flows pancuronium bromide which
paralyzes the muscles and causes the inmate to stop breathing. Lastly a solution of potassium
chloride stops the heart from beating. The inmate dies from anesthetic overdose and respiratory
andcardiacarrest.
Capital punishment has always used the death penalty as an option for many different
reasons there are people who disagreeoragreewithit.These reasons rangefromreligiousviews
to political such as it being cost effective to tax paying citizens and as well as there being
alternative punishments to the death penalty. People who are for the death penalty believe that
not all people can be reformed which results in an increased crime rate. They believe that by
executing these violent offenders such as murders and rapists, will protect citizens from these
offenders by not allowing them back into society after jail sentences failed to reform their
behavior preventing future crimes of similar fashion from happeningaswellas deterringothers
fromalifeofcrime.
Witness are present while the executions take place, typically the victims relatives
providing a feeling of justice to the victim's family assuring them that no other family will be
affected by the offender and giving them a sense of closure. For inmates that receive lengthy
time sentences or life in prison with the possibility ofparoletheyareabletobereleased without
having to complete theirsentenceformanyreasonsincludingpolicychangesandgoodbehavior
.
If the parole board decides the inmate has improved atleasthalfwaythrough theirsentencethey
will allow the inmate to be released back into society with strict monitoring but with no real
guarantee that the inmate won't commit the same crime again or a different crime due to felons
nothavingmanyoptionsoncetheyarereleasedfromincarceration.


Those who oppose capital punishment believe it isn't an effective way of rehabilitating
offenders for reasons such as: wrongful execution of an innocent person, inadequate legal
representation, arbitrary factors in determining who gets death and who doesn't,thehighcostof
executing offenders rather than life in prison, prolonged suffering of victims families,
international views,religious perspectives,alternatives to executions, and the fact that execution
maynotbedeterrencetothoselookingtocommitviolentcrimes.

Wrongful executions can never be undone the legal system is flawed in that everyone
behind bars did not committhecrimethey areaccusedofcommitting.Sincethereinstatementof
the death penalty 144 men and women have been released from death row due to wrongful
convictions. With advances in technology we are now able to review many old cases to insure
the person accused did infact commit the crime. Due to the severity of the consequences of
capitalpunishmentlegalrepresentationisveryimportantandshouldbeadequatefortheaccused
if the legalcouncil isn't fittorepresenttheaccuseditcouldresultintoinnocentliveslost,thereal
offendergettingawaywiththecrimeandnojusticeforthefamily.
Laws vary from state to state, thirtyone states use the death penalty and nineteen states
do not use the death penalty, the same crime could be committed in two different states and
result in different sentencing due to thearbitrarydifferencesinstate laws.Sinceallthestatesare
not on the same page with theuseofcapitalpunishmentjusticewillbeinconsistentandwon'tbe
aseffective.

The death penalty isn't an open and shut process, an inmatecoulddiewhileondeathrow

of natural causes before his scheduled execution date due tohowlengthythe process isandalso
due to other inmates waiting to be executed. Some inmates have been reported to have been on
death row for twenty years, defeating the purpose of executing inmates to stop prison
overcrowding and the cost of havinginmatessentencedtolifewithoutparole.Whilealso having
to cover the cost of the actual execution we now have to cover the cost of housing and feeding
the inmates for what could be the rest of their lives. Death Row conditions differ from general
population in that death row inmates are housed in single cells with television and visitation
rights. Death Row inmates get the same privileges as general populationbuttheluxuryofbeing
housedinanindividualcellwithtelevisionraising thecostitwouldnormallycosttohousethese
inmatesforlifeandprolongingthesufferingtothevictim'sfamily.
The victim's family is now forced to wait for justice that may never even come, the
inmate could out live the victim's family astheywaitforthesystemtotakeitscourse,thiscould
lead to victims relatives taking justice into their own hands because they know the system of
capitalpunishmentdoesn'tworkresultinginevenmoreviolence.
How other countries view the United States and our legal system is important to our
foreign affairs. More than 139 countries worldwide have banned the use of capital punishment,
we could burn bridges with other countries due to increased use of capital punishment and we
could be viewed as barbaric,inhumane,and immoral. We view countries in the Middle East that
way for still using death as a form of punishment. Capital punishmentisdeeperthanjustjustice
for the victim and punishing the offender, we have to take in account its effect on our
governmentandeconomy.


Many religious groups believe that murder of any kind is wrong, if it is done as
retaliation and punishment for another murder. They believe that revenge should be left to a
higher power and that the murderwillbepunishedinthislifeortheafterlife.Therearefarmore
ways of dealing with violent offenders than just executing them with advances in technology
and medicine we are able to closely monitor inmates while they are incarcerated and see how
they aredevelopingmentally.Inmateswhoshowsignsofcommittingthesameoffensesaren'tlet
out back into society even iftheyareupforparole.Sincedeathrowinmatesarehousedforwhat
could be the rest of their lives, long sentencing is a more cost effectivealternativetodeathrow,
byeliminatingthesinglecellhousingandtelevisionineachcell.

Capital punishment is not a new concept in our society and we still have prisons filled
with violent offenders. There's no evidence thatsaysthattheincreasein executionswillresultin
a lowered violent crime rate, especially when we take mental health into consideration. Some
offenders could believe they will never get caught and wont care of the consequencesandother
could have a mental disorder and they simply don't care about the law and the well being of
others.

Ibelievethat thedeathpenaltyshouldnotbeinplaceforanystateintheunitedstatesand

instead of murdering our criminals we should institutionalize them. I believe that making our
prisons more secure and give justice to the victims and their families then there would be no
need for the death penalty. The death penalty is seen as an immoral way to treat anyone even

criminals. Instant death does not always occur for any of the methods listed as capital
punishment. If instant death does not occur and there is complications it prolongs pain and
becomes torture. Prisons are overcrowded with prisoners who some maybe be innocent. The
bible says
Romans 12:19
Donottakerevenge,mydearfriends,butleaveroomforGod's wrath,
for it is written: It is mine to avenge I will repay, says the Lord. This shows that humans
shouldnottakerevengeononeanother,inanywayincludingtheformofmurder.

The death penaltyhasalwaysbeenusedincapitalpunishment,butmanypeopleincluding

myself see it as an inhumane way of reforming society. People are for the death penalty for
reasons like the victims natural rightswereviolatedandthereforeneedsaconsequence.Aswell
asbeingforthedeathpenalty

there are many people who are against it for reasons such

asprolongedsufferingforthevictimsfamiliesandreligiousperspectives.

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