Is The Death Penalty As Great As It Sounds. On May 4, 1990,

There are five ways to execute a person. The five are: lethal gas, lethal injection, electrocution, hanging, and firing squad. The most commonly used are lethal injection and electrocution. Lethal injection is when the people inject a shot into both of your arms. It takes about three minutes until the acid kills you. Firing squad is when a group of people has guns and the shoot at the murderers

Execution by firing squad has a long history in America. The first recorded execution by firing squad was in 1608, when George Kendall, one of the original councilors in the colony of Virginia was put to death. People opposed to the death penalty say that being shot to death if a form of cruel and unusual punishment. There have been cases where the marksmen have missed the shot and it has taken a man over an hour to die from his wounds. Another problem with this form of execution is that some members of the firing squad have been known to aim away from the man 's heart, shooting him where it would take longer to die. (116)

Furthermore, in the 1830s and 1840s capital punishment was targeted nationwide (Henderson, 9). The movement against the death penalty sought to “halt public executions” (Henderson, 9). Public executions at the time were widely attended and seen as a form of entertainment (Henderson, 9). The most popular form of execution at this time (and still today in some countries) was hanging (Beliveau, 202). Although this type of execution was common when carrying out the death sentence, it was not always the most humane. Beliveau claims that “contrary to what is often believed, in the majority of cases it is not the blocking of air entering the lungs that causes death” (202). In addition, the most common types of hanging were short-drop hanging and long-drop hanging (Beliveau, 203-4). Short-drop hanging was the more common of the two and had similar effects to dying by strangulation whereas long-drop hanging was created with the intent of executing someone in a more humane way (Beliveau, 203-4). Other methods of capital punishment include decapitation, lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, hanging, firing squad (Denver et al).

“And despite scientific efforts to implement capital punishment in a "humane" fashion, time and again executions have resulted in degrading spectacles, including the botched lethal injection in April 2014 that took more than 40 minutes to kill Oklahoma inmate Clayton Derrell Lockett and prompted Glossip v. Gross” (Heyns and Mendez). Capital punishment is an inhumane and outdated way for punishing criminals. The use of capital punishment is hundreds of years old in America. It is used as a punishment for criminals who have committed a violent crime in which they physically harm others. The point of the death penalty is to show that these kinds of crimes are not tolerated, and to deter criminals from committing these kinds of crimes. Unfortunately

After the Governor and Attorney General provide the okay, the inmate is escorted to the death chamber where they are strapped to the gurney in roughly 30 seconds. Often the inmate will thank the tie down team, which has been said to leave the executioner with a “weird feeling.” Some inmates are calm, while others cry or appear to be physically anxious. For those who are anxious it has been said that their legs will often

“About 80% of Teas executions have had one problem or another. In the final analysis, it looks disgusting”, says Fred Leuchter, inventor of the Lethal Injection Machine. The death penalty is nothing but a violent crime, an act of petty revenge, and most importantly, a violation of the eighth amendment. It is a cruel process, and causes unnecessary pain for the relatives of the executionees. On April 12, 1983, a one Mr. Evans was sentenced to be put to death by the electric chair. But, the technicians erred, and the total length of the procedure expanded to fourteen minutes. Many problems such as the one of Mr.Evans, happen while the execution is taking place. Additionally, every year, many innocent

“Harding’s death was extremely violent. He was in great pain. I heard him gasp and moan. I saw his body turn from red to purple.” Carla McClain, a newspaper reporter, witnessed the execution of Donald Eugene Harding on April 6, 1992 by asphyxiation. Of the same execution television journalist, Cameron Harper, said, “Harding’s spasms and jerks lasted 6 minutes and 37 seconds. Obviously, this man was suffering. This was a violent death….an ugly event. We put animals to death more humanely.”

Although the lethal injection is one of the quickest means of execution, it is still unconstitutional due to the fact that problems may occur. Lethal injections are the primary method of execution. Three drugs are usually used in the injection. It is used in all states that have the death penalty as a primary method of execution. When resources are not available, other methods, such as hanging, firing squads, and/or gas chambers, will be used. The drugs of  lethal injections are inserted into a usable vein. If a member of the execution team accidently inserts the needle into a muscle or if the needle becomes clogged, it can result in unbearable pain for the victim. Often times it can be difficult to find a usable vein and the prisoner is strapped

Long tubes connect the needle through a hole in a cement block wall to several intravenous drips. The first is a harmless saline solution that is started immediately. Then, at the warden 's signal, a curtain is raised exposing the inmate to the witnesses in an adjoining room. Then, the inmate is injected with sodium thiopental - an anesthetic, which puts the inmate to sleep. Next flows pavulon or pancuronium bromide, which paralyzes the entire muscle system and stops the inmate 's breathing. Finally, the flow of potassium chloride stops the heart. Death results from anesthetic overdose and respiratory and cardiac arrest while the condemned person is unconscious. (Ecenbarger, 1994 and Weisberg, 1991) Medical ethics preclude doctors from participating in executions. However, a doctor will certify the inmate is dead.” Lethal injection is a more humane way of executing someone, as opposed to electrocution.

Throughout capital punishment's history, there have been an assortment of ways that it has been did keeping in mind the end goal to execute the censured in the most accommodating way imaginable. On the other hand, for every system that has been utilized as a way to endeavor to execute lawbreakers, there have been imperfect endeavors that have brought on extreme agony and languishing over those that have needed to persevere through the procedure. For the procedure of hangings, a typical method for execution in the nineteenth century, the overall population was insulted and horrified to see the censured "battle for five minutes toward the end of the rope," (Haines). The hot seat has reported a few occasions where numerous endeavors were made to execute a criminal before the demonstration was really completed, for example, with the execution of John Louis Evans III (Haines). Indeed, even the more present day method for execution have their defective endeavors, for example, with deadly infusion. The execution of Stephen McCoy in May of 1989 is a prime sample of this. As per witnesses, McCoy responded roughly to the medications managed to him and was seen choking, viciously hacking, and experiencing body reshapings (Haines). Illustrations like this demonstrate the frameworks that we have set up have genuine defects in them. From an ethical point of view, one can't willing and with an

First proposed by a Scottish pharmacologist by the name of Sir Robert Christison in 1846, lethal injection was later implemented for the first time in 1977 by American medical examiner Jay Chapman as a way to supplement previous forms of capital punishment seen as painful. This relatively new form of execution has been the primary form of capital punishment in five countries, including the United States, for about the past thirty years, but has come under much criticism in recent years for its presumed inhumane proceedings. Near fifteen hundred lethal injections have been performed in the United States alone since the procedure’s introduction and some question the court system’s authority to subject individuals to what they claim is cruel and unusual punishment (Clark, 1995). Furthermore, despite the current legality of lethal injection instated by the Supreme Court, serious debates and protests over the controversial issue still take place. Is lethal injection more humane than hanging or firing squad, or is it pain so unimaginable no one alive has truly felt it?

Death by firing squad is still a method used in Utah, but must be at the prisoner’s request. There have only been two executions performed this way over the past 37 years (“Descriptions”; Kellaway 146). The convicted inmate is strapped to a chair with a hood over their head and a target pinned to their chest. The marksmen aim for the target from several feet away and death is caused by blood loss and can be a slow process (“Descriptions”). This method of execution has been found to be inefficient due to the fact that there is no certainty of instant death (Kellaway 147).

A metal skullcap-shaped electrode is placed tightly to the scalp and forehead over a sponge moistened with saline (The sponge must not be too wet or the saline short-circuits the electric current, and not too dry, as it would then have a very high resistance) to endure electrocution. An extra cathode is moistened with conductive jelly (Electro-Creme) and asserted as a portion of the prisoner's leg that has been shaved to reduce resistance from electricity and then the prisoner is then blindfolded. After the team, has left the observation room, the chief signals the executioner, who then pulls a handle to link the power supply to a jolt of between 500 and 2000 volts, that last for about 30 seconds. Gas Chamber is the third method used in states for the death penalty. The inmate is strapped down to a chair in an airtight chamber. Located under the chair is a pail of sulfuric acid connected to a long stethoscope to the inmate. Once the inmate is cleared for the gas, the executioner flicks a lever that will release crystals of sodium cyanide into the pail under the chair. Firing Squad is the least method used in states for the death penalty. Usually the inmate is bound to a seat with straps across the waist and head, while in front of an oval-shaped canvas wall. The chair is grounded by sandbags to captivate the inmate's blood during the

Imagine sitting in a room. You are strapped tightly to a chair, with an IV jutting out of each of your arms. Your mind is racing, your heart pounding as a saline solution courses through your veins. Your time on Earth is about to end and you prepare yourself for this fate, bracing for the first of three drugs that will end your life. As you turn to look upon your loved ones for a final time, you realize you can’t: the leather straps around your head prevent you from seeing your family members, who stare at you through the small window and wait for you to die. This fate, although fictional for you, is a very real experience for people who die by lethal injection, the most common method of execution for criminals given a death sentence

According to Cambridge Dictionaries Online, the definition of death penalty is: the legal punishment of a particular crime by death. The death penalty is also often listed in other terms such as capital punishment or if the state has abolished the death penalty the felon is given more than one life term. Within the history of the death penalty there where many ways for an inmate to die, in Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, 2014 1p. , it states “The death penalty has been inflicted in many ways now regarded as barbaric and forbidden by law almost everywhere, including crucifixion, boiling in oil, drawing and quartering, impalement, beheading, burning alive, crushing, tearing asunder, stoning, and drowning.” Today, the U.S. on authorize death in five ways: gas chamber, electrocution, firing squad, hanging, and lethal injection. Referencing the Death Penalty Information Center website we will explore each method discovering how gruesome and agonizing this must be for a person to dream of every night after his or her sentencing to death. Starting with hanging we’ll see that even though it is now uncommon in the United States, but it’s still popular in Third World countries. Hanging is still used in Washington, New Hampshire and Delaware, however the states offer the option of lethal injection as an alternative method to die. To prep for the execution the inmate weighs in one day prior to the execution, then prison staff uses a sandbag for practice to ensure everything goes