Capital Punishment

Capital punishment is a very divisive topic in the United States. This is a topic that sparks passion within people about the equality and effectiveness of the American Judicial system. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion about this topic but the throbbing question that lingers in the air is that is it morally right? Capital punishment also known as the death penalty is the brutal ordered execution of a prisoner as a punishment for a serious crime which might be murder or treason. The amounts of problems associated with capital punishment are massive, ranging from the innocent dying for a crime he/she never committed, and the only way to resolve these problems is to eliminate capital punishment.

According to the online Webster dictionary capital punishment is defined as the judicially ordered execution of a prisoner as a punishment for a serious crime, often called a capital offence or a capital crime. In those jurisdictions that practice capital punishment, its use is usually restricted to a small number of criminal offences, principally, treason and premeditated murder.

This method of punishment is practiced differently among the fifty states in the U.S. In the 38 states and federal government that currently have death penalty statutes, five different methods of execution are prescribed: Lethal Injection, Electrocution, Lethal Gas, Firing Squad, and Hanging. The vast majority of jurisdictions provide for execution by lethal injection. 20 jurisdictions provide for alternative methods of execution, contingent upon the choice of the inmate, the date of the execution or sentence, or the possibility of the method being held unconstitutional. Only one state does not have lethal injection as a primary or optional method of execution. Whatever the style of punishment might be maybe by shooting, electrocution, gassing, hanging or lethal injection it has accomplished nothing but terrorize not only the criminal, but the family and friends as well.

There are a lot of negative scenarios that comes into mind whenever this divisive topic is raise, but the number one is that innocent people will be executed while the real criminals escape the punishment. The worst feeling of all is for the family to discover that their loved one was innocent. The fact is that two out of every six inmates being executed is innocent. That information alone is enough to raise a lot of eyebrows. Throughout our history there have been mistakes in convictions of defendants and the death penalty prevents any opportunity to rectify any miscarriage of justice. Capital punishment is irrevocable, and the errors of justice cannot be rectified. All possibility of a change of heart is totally gone. An innocent person has been hanged or electrocuted and the judge, jury, and the whole legal machinery involved have falling short of the purpose they sought to accomplish.

The support of the death penalty is on the belief that it deters people from committing gruesome murders and treason but that is far from the truth. It is very clear that the death penalty does