The Pros And Cons Of Capital Punishment

“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 Capital punishment is an inhumane and outdated way for punishing criminals.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

Many states have been executing fewer people in the past decade and some states like Maryland and the District of Columbia have abolished capital punishment altogether. Many people shake and are repulsed by the live executions they see on television from the Middle East. From all the Western Countries, the United States is the only country that still upholds the death penalty. Even though the death penalty is legal in most states, just a few of them do still carry out executions. Reason for this could be that Americans are somehow okay with the idea of the states using the lethal injection as the best way to put a sick human being to endless sleep. Botched executions have also been exposed as a large problem seemingly unknown to the American public. The drugs that have been used for the lethal injections also seem to be experimental, untested and are sometimes proving to be ineffective at killing prisoners without some form of excruciating pain. Just because the prison is using pharmaceutical drugs does not necessarily mean that this is a painless process. Richard Dieter, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center, says sceptism of lethal injection is “not driven by sympathy for the defendants, who committed terrible crimes,” but rather, “(the public) doesn’t want to hear gruesome facts,” such as prisoners writhing in agony while strapped to a gurney as their loved one’s watch. When the procedure is botched, it is anything but

On April 29, 2014, Clayton Lockett was strapped to a gurney in front of a selected audience and injected with a cocktail of midazolam, a paralytic, and potassium chloride (McBride and Murphy). Despite the combination of toxic drugs administered, two of which were specifically designated to sedate and paralyze him (PLoS), Lockett began writhing in pain ten minutes into his execution and suffered for thirty minutes before he was finally declared dead (McBride and Murphy). Lethal injection has been the preferred tool for execution here in the United States, where more than half of the states uphold the death penalty (“Lethal Injection”). It is intended to be quick and painless, hence ‘humane’, however in the case of Clayton Lockett that is evidently

In 1790, Thomas Bird became the first person to be executed under the United States Constitution. Convicted of murder and piracy, Bird was publically hanged, all for the slim cost of five dollars and fifty cents—for the construction of a gallows and a coffin. Since then, the U.S. state and federal governments have executed thousands of people by various methods. First introduced in 1608, numerous of methods have been practiced in the history of the American colonies and the United States, but only five methods are currently offered. These methods include hanging, firing squad, electric chair, lethal gas, and lethal injection. However, preceding the introduction of lethal injection as the most effective and humane method of capital punishment, many states have abandoned the previous procedures in the hope of making capital punishment more palatable to the public and to a judicial system worried about inflicting cruel and unusual punishments that violate the constitution. For several years lethal injection grew in popularity and by 2009, all death-penalty states had made lethal injection the sole or primary method of execution for death row inmates, despite all of the evident problems that have occurred since the 1950’s. In addition to the problems in the past, 2011 introduced the United States with even more severe difficulties, causing the death penalty to transform once again due to a nationwide drug shortage of the paralyzing agent used in lethal injection, sodium

Death penalty is also known as capital punishment or execution. Societies from all over the world have used this sentence at one point in history, in order to avenge criminals. Most common reasons for being sentenced to death were war crimes, war treason, murder and espionage. Back then, the capital punishment was almost always accompanied by torture, and executions were public. The most used execution method was by hanging. If an inmate chooses the electric chair it takes anywhere between 2 min and 15 minutes. The criminal receives a jolt between 500 and 2000 volts for every 30 seconds, attending doctor waits for body to cool after each bolt and check if the heart is still breathing. While in some societies, violent death penalties are still being employed – like shooting, hanging, electric chair and gas chamber – in most countries, these have been replaced with a painless method – the lethal injection. When the person is put to death for the death penalty they use a lethal injection execution, in most cases. Sodium thipal makes the person go deeply unconscious but unable to feel himself being paralyzed from the “pancuronium bromide”. On death row an inmate waited an average of 15 years between sentencing and execution but a quarter of inmates die on death row from natural cases. The time has come to make punishment fit the crime, too oppose lethal injection, but not because these untried new drugs might obituary cause pain, but cause confusion, lethal injection conflates

A 35 year-old man, guilty of brutally murdering his ex-wife and her father, was sentenced to death. This man underwent a botched execution, which was excruciatingly painful due to human error. The inmate awoke shortly after the lethal drugs had been injected and remained conscious for nearly 45 minutes until he experienced a heart attack and died. Although this man suffered greatly, many argue that the criminal still deserved the punishment received and tat there is no alternative more humane. Until 1976 executions were more brutal, for example public hangings, the electric chair, and firing squads but now more than 85% are preformed by lethal drugs ("Capital Punishment: Should" 5). The topic

Capital punishment is a form of taking someone 's life in order to repay for the crime that they have committed. Almost all capital punishment sentences in the United States of America have been imposed for homicide since the 1970 's. Ever since the reinstatement after 38 years of being banned, there has been intense debate among Americans regarding the constitutionality of capital punishment. Critics say that executions are violations of the “cruel and unusual punishment” provision of the Eighth Amendment (cite?). Some capital punishment cases require a separate penalty trial to be made, at which time the jury reviews if there is the need for capital punishment. In 1982, the first lethal injection execution was performed in Texas. Some other common methods of execution used are electrocution, a firing squad, and lethal gas. In recent years, the US Supreme Court has made it more difficult for death row prisoners to file appeals. Nearly 75 percent of Americans support the death sentence as an acceptable form of punishment. The other fourth have condemned it. Some major disagreements between supporters and non-supporters include issues of deterrence, economics, fallibility, and rehabilitation. Their indifference to capital punishment is founded on moral grounds and the constitution. In society’s best interest and for the safety of individuals, capital punishment is a respectable form of vengeance for a crime that was committed.

Death penalty is the last torment for criminals who committed a capital crime, like murder or assault. Although majority of the states – precisely 34 states in total – are among the list of the death penalty states, some states still consider executions as unethical and extremely brutal. Throughout the decades, a few cases constitute cruel and unusual punishment. In the article, “Death penalty now cruel and unusual,” James Fox stated that the execution of Joseph Rudolph Wood, a double-murder convict, constitute cruel and unusual for the reason that Wood’s execution by lethal injection took two hours when the lethal injection procedure should have only taken ten minutes. In addition to the unusually long execution, Wood revealed signs of extreme pain during the execution (Fox). Moreover, United States District Court declared California’s lethal injection protocol unconstitutional after a painful execution in 2006 (PLoS Medicine Editors). Painful deaths constitute cruel and unusual

However, opponents must address the facts that states are carrying out the death penalty in the most humanitarian way possible. In the constitution, ‘cruel and unusual’ capital punishment defines the acts of “disemboweling, beheading, quartering, dissecting, and burning alive [those who are found guilty of capital punishment], all of which share the deliberate infliction of pain for the sake of pain” (“BAZE vs. REES” 1). On the other hand, thirty of the thirty-six states that have legalized capital punishment carry out capital punishment through lethal injection. The injection consists of a combination of three drugs:

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?

Capital punishment has been a long debated topic of discussion for decades in the United States. Additional controversy over the United States death penalty has risen from a 2014 botched execution in the state of Oklahoma. The incident occurred when the lethal injection was administered and the “drugs meant to kill a convicted murderer did not, though he later died of a heart attack.” (LA Times) The article from the LA Times discusses political backgrounds and climate for capital punishment. There is an argument that we should abolish capital punishment in the United States, while some argue we need to uphold crime and punishment. The article discusses

How can America move forward when they are breaking their own laws and morals in attempt to punish prisoners? Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the act of killing a criminal whose offense was severe enough. Thirty-one of the fifty states in America practice the death penalty. The lethal injection procedure was first performed in Texas in 1982 and is the primary form of execution in America now (“State by State Lethal Injection”, 1). The injections are typically three separate parts, one to make the criminal unconscious, one to stop the breathing, and the last to stop the heartbeat. Capital punishment is viewed by some as morally good and just, however there is much more to this act of violence than people consider. The death penalty needs to be abolished in America due to the hypocrisy of law, moral being, global recognition, and financial benefits.

Two hours. That’s how long it took Joseph Wood, an inmate at Florence State Prison in Arizona, to die to a lethal injection. Joseph Wood is not the first to die to a botched injection, which is thought to be a “humane” process of executing America’s worst criminal offenders. Many other people across the states are victims to the harsh and provenly inhumane laws of capital punishment. Cases like these prove why capital punishment is wrong, and should be removed from the laws of every state. Capital punishment is an inhumane punishment which is dealt from a broken and sometimes blatantly racist system, and is an economic burden on the states that administer it.

Many people begin their morning with a cup of coffee and the daily news, whether attained by social media, television, or the radio. News coverage of death penalty cases, grabs the attention of an audience. The death penalty is an emotional issue for individuals to ponder. In fact, America’s opinion of capital punishment depends on its constitutionality, deterrence, retribution, and the irrevocable mistakes made by sending an innocent defendant to death row. The death penalty also known as capital punishment is legal in thirty-one states and illegal in nineteen states, to include the District of Columbia, (“History of,” 2015.) There has been 1,418 executions in the United States since 1976, the most recent execution was in Texas on October 2015, (“Executions by,” 2015). First, the Supreme Court sets the perimeters on the legality of the death penalty. Second, consider the pros and cons of the death penalty as a deterrent to murder and retribution, not revenge, (“Top 10,” 2009.) Third, the lethal injection drugs that are available for some states to use are brought before the U. S. Supreme court because of the complaint of inmates on death row of the “risk of severe pain,”(“Lethal Injection, ”n.d.) The death penalty is an allowed form of punishment for defendants that are convicted of murder or other capital crimes as long as it does not violate the Constitution.

Capital punishment or the death penalty is punishment by death of a person who has been legally tried in a court of law for a capital crime. The morality and constitutionality of the death penalty has recently come up for debate again after the European pharmaceutical companies, who produce Pentobarbital, one of the drugs most commonly used to execute the death penalty sentence via lethal injection, stopped exporting and allowing the sale of the drugs to the United States. (Steiden, 2014) (Levitt & Feyerick, 2013) Since then multiple lawsuits have been filed by incarcerated individuals and opponents of the death penalty after several states began looking into new drug combinations or having variations of the banned drugs created by compounding pharmacies locally. (Levitt & Feyerick, 2013) Two such lawsuits were filed by Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner, who were both found guilty of capital crimes and sentenced to death in Oklahoma. Both Lockett and Warner argued for a stay on their execution dates until the controversies over the new drug protocols adopted by the state of Oklahoma were cleared up. (Eckholm, 2014) Other lawsuits filed have argued that using untested drug protocols in lethal injections should be considered “cruel and unusual punishment.” (Levitt & Feyerick, 2013) The debate really heated up after Clayton Lockett’s appeal for a stay was denied and he appeared to have suffered for an extended amount of time during his execution. (Steiden, 2014)