The Death Penalty in the United States By: Isaid Cruz

Introduction Capital Punishment is Legal in 31 out of the 50 states in the union and is applied as a civil and military manner. The method of execution most widely used since the reinstatement of the Death Penalty in 1976 is lethal injection. In 2016 there has been 12 executions up to this day, totaling to 1435 prisoners executed since the reinstatement of executions of 1976 and currently 3002 inmates are serving a death sentence in our nation’s jails (deathpenaltyinfo.org)

The Debate There is currently a national debate going on about the practice of the Death Penalty in the United States as a judicial punishment. The main debate is if this type of punishment is fair or a violation of human rights to the prisoners on Death Row. The purpose of this research is what Americans think about this way of punishment in our judicial system. Is it a fair punishment to child rapists, serial killers, or terrorists? Does it deter other crimes from occurring? Or is it an inhuman humiliating way of punishment?

The Proponents It creates another form of crime deterrent. Prisoner parole or escapes can give criminals another chance to kill. The death penalty gives closure to the victim's families who have suffered so much.

Gallup Poll

The Oppossers The possibility exists that innocent men and women may be put to death. It is barbaric and violates the "cruel and unusual" clause in the Bill of Rights. It sends the wrong message: why kill people who kill people to show killing is wrong.

Flaws in the system Since 1973 over 140 people have been released from death in twenty-six states (deathpenaltyinfo.org). As many as one in twenty-five inmates on death rows in the United States are innocent. That is currently out of the estimated 3000 inmates on death row there is a possibility that 120 of them might innocent.

Pablo Lucio Vazquez Executed in TX. April

References “Crime in the United States” /tables/table Web 20 March Cromie, Jenny. The Death Penalty. Boston: Greenhaven Press, “Exonerations of Innocent Men and Women.” Ncadp.org. October Web. 22 February “History of the death penalty and public opinion about the death penalty” 11 December Web. 22 February Norton, Amy. “Large Majority of Americans Still Back the Death Penalty.” Theharrispoll.com. 8 June Web. 8 March Messerli, Joe. “Should the Death Penalty Be Banned as a Form of Punishment?” balancedpolitics.org. 21 August Web. 23 October 2015.