Capital Punishment

When turning on the television, radio, or simply opening the local

newspaper, one is bombarded with news of arrests, murders, homicides

serial killers, and other such tragedies. It is a rare occasion to

go throughout a day in this world and not hear of these things. So

what should be done about this crime rate? Not only is it committing

a crime, but today, it is signing your life over to the government.

This is a risk one is taking when he decides to pull a trigger or

plunge a knife, but is it really up to our justice system to decide

one's fate? There are many issues that address this question of

capital punishment such as religion, the effect on society,

restitution being denied, the possible "wrongly accused", and the

rights of the convicted. But how often do these concepts creep into

the public's mind when it hears of our 'fair, trusty' government

taking away someone's breathing rights?

Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, is 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 murder, that is, the deliberate

premeditated killing of another person, or, even more commonly in

recent years, killings that occur during the course of some other

violent felony, such as robbery or rape. Prisoners who have been

sentenced to death are usually kept segregated from other prisoners

in a special part of the prison, pending their execution. In some

places this segregated area is known as Death Row.

Methods of Capital Punishment include:

Crucifixion - being nailed by the limbs