The Innocence project have found more than 300 people who were wrongfully convicted innocent of their crime. By proving their innocence, they were removed from death row.
Capital punishment more commonly known as the “Death Penalty” is the execution of a person who has been convicted of a capital offense. As far back as we know, many countries around the world have used the death penalty as a means of punishment for the most serious offenders. Now that people have access to an enormous wealth of information, it is no surprise that the death penalty is surrounded by controversy.
The death penalty in the United States has changed over the
course of history in conjunction with historical events, laws and legal cases,
and continues to vary from state to state. The number of executions in our country has decreased significantly
every year. The trend to abolish
the death penalty has been continuing in our country.
With the Death Penalty, there are several ways you can be put to death, these ways include:
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| lethal injection by hitthatswitch (2011) |
- Lethal injection (by all 33 states)
- Electrocution (AL, AK, FL, KY, OK, SC, TN, VA)
- Gas Chamber (AZ, MO, CA, WY)
- Hanging (NH, WA)
- Fire Squad (OK, UT)
All thirty-three states have the lethal injection as their primary method of execution. To find out more about the executions: visit this link.
I believe the death penalty should be discontinued throughout the United States. Many death row inmates have proven to be wrongfully executed and/or wrongfully convicted. In the state of Illinois, Anthony Porter was on death row convicted of murder. It was determined days before his execution, that he was innocent and did not commit the crime. Numerous other men on death row have been exonerated with the use of modern DNA procedures and methods. If new evidence develops to prove the person is innocent (as in the Anthony Porter case), we can always remedy the wrongful conviction as long as the prisoner is still alive. In addition, implementation of the death penalty in the US has not deterred crime in our country. The crime rate did not change when the death penalty was imposed. Also, the death penalty should be stopped because of the costs. The cost of executing a prisoner is $2 million dollars vs $500,000 to house a prisoner in prison for life. Putting a prisoner to death is taking the easy way out. I believe that keeping a prisoner in a cell for the rest of his or her life is a more severe punishment to endure. I am against the death penalty because I do not feel it accomplishes justice.
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| http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions-year |
This
graph shows how many people were executed from 1976 to 2011. As you can see, the execution rate
began to rise in 1995, but sparked to its highest in 1999. Since 1999, it has significantly
decreased with very few fluctuations.
In 201, 43 people have been executed. In the United States, our last execution happened on
December 12, 2012 in Florida.
I believe the death penalty should be discontinued throughout the United States. Many death row inmates have proven to be wrongfully executed and/or wrongfully convicted. In the state of Illinois, Anthony Porter was on death row convicted of murder. It was determined days before his execution, that he was innocent and did not commit the crime. Numerous other men on death row have been exonerated with the use of modern DNA procedures and methods. If new evidence develops to prove the person is innocent (as in the Anthony Porter case), we can always remedy the wrongful conviction as long as the prisoner is still alive. In addition, implementation of the death penalty in the US has not deterred crime in our country. The crime rate did not change when the death penalty was imposed. Also, the death penalty should be stopped because of the costs. The cost of executing a prisoner is $2 million dollars vs $500,000 to house a prisoner in prison for life. Putting a prisoner to death is taking the easy way out. I believe that keeping a prisoner in a cell for the rest of his or her life is a more severe punishment to endure. I am against the death penalty because I do not feel it accomplishes justice.
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