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Capital Punishment, Or Penalty Of Death

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Capital Punishment

Capital punishment, or penalty of death, is the most severe sentence handed down

by courts to convicted criminals for crimes which they have committed; yet, there is no

conclusive evidence that capital punishment stops crime. It should be considered cruel

and inhumane to end a life this way. Innocent people have been put to death by our

judicial system, and even the mentally ill have been sentenced to death. It doesn’t make

sense to take a life because they took a life. It sounds a lot like revenge. The person who

takes the criminal’s life is also putting someone to death. God gives life and should be the

only one to end a life. The death sentence doesn’t teach the criminal anything because it is…show more content…
The first results of the abolition movement was

to divide murder into two categories, first and second-degree, with only the first degree

carrying the death penalty. The second results carried out by Rush and the abolition

movement was to end public executions. Further executions had to be performed in a

enclosed prison yard or stockade. Thomas Upham, a professor at Bowdoin College,

argued: “Our courts of justice must be open to the public; the deliberations of our

legislature must be public…If business of this nature is done at all, it must be done in the

light of day.” Nat Hentoff , civil libertarian, prior to the execution of Timothy McVeigh

wrote “We, as a people, demand accountability of our public officials. Surely we should

not shirk our duty to witness- and therefore be accountable for-the executions we permit”

These executions were cruel and inhumane, and were horrific to watch as the criminal was

put to death.

The methods of execution began with hanging and the firing squad. Then came the

electric chair which was a slow, agonizing death for the convicted criminal. The smell of

flesh filled the room as the horrible executions were carried out. The gas chamber was

introduced after the electric chair,
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