The Death Penalty
The Death Penalty
The death penalty is a very controversial topic in today’s American society. Many questions arise about the subject; is it violating the 8th amendment? Is it humane? Is the punishment equal for all races and genders? I personally agree with the death penalty. It is necessary to punish those who have inhumanely taken the life of an innocent a person because of their inability to control their emotions. I understand the argument that who am I to decide if someone should be allowed to live or not? Who am I to decide whether their case meets the requirements to be put to death? How does killing someone help teach that killing is wrong? But who was that criminal to decide that the person he killed deserved to die? How is allowing a murder to stay in and air conditioned building with meals, company, maybe not the best but still company, and TV showing him that what he did was wrong? It allows him to harbor the hope of somehow getting released and then recommitting his crime.
There are not many ways in which one can receive the death penalty as a punishment however the main prerequisite is that the crime committed results in a death. The requirements to be put on death row become much narrower than that the murder must be premeditated, meaning that the killer had to have planned the attack and killing of his/her victim. Another way to be considered for death row is by committing murder in commission of a felony, for instance shooting someone while one is robbing a bank. The final way to receive the death penalty and one of the only ways to have it commissioned by the federal government is by committing an act of treason. Nevertheless, each state decides for itself who they see deemed fit to receive the punishment.
The main way to perform an execution is by the use of lethal injection, allowed in 35 of the 36 states which permit the death penalty. But up until 1996 there were four other methods of execution...
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