Death Penalty Opinion Essay, Research Paper

The Death Penalty has been around since and before the Americas were

found. Even though it has been in affect for hundreds of years, I do not feel it is at

all right.

The methods are cruel and in some cases, very painful for the inmate. most

people think the death penalty is a good way of justice in the United States, and it is

said to be a humane way of execution, but from what I have found, it is far from

humane.

Since 1976, 549 people have have been executed by lethal injection, 149

by electrocution, 11 by gas chamber, 3 by hanging, and 2 by the firing squad. Of

the 714 people executed in the United States, 332 were in Texas and Virginia

alone. After World War II, many countries left the practices of capital punishment.

The United States did not stop the practice of capital punshment.

If there is a slight mistake, in any of the executions, the inmate feels even

more pain than usual. The gas chamber is one of the most painful of executions.

“At first there is evidence of extreme horror, pain, and strangling. The eyes pop.

The skin turns purple and the victim begins to drool”(Duffy, Clifton-San Quenton

Penitentiary warden). If done wrong, hanging can be just as horrific as the gas

chamber. If the rope is to long, the body can be decapitated. If the rope is to short,

the inmate can sufficate for as long as 45 minutes. Electrocution is a very common

way of execution in Alabama and Nebraska. The prisoner has between 500 and

2000 volts of electricity, shot through their body for 30 second intervals. the process

is continued until the prisoner is dead. “The hands grip the chair and there might

be violent movement of the limbs that can cause dislocation or fractures.

Defecation usually occurs. The eyes can pop out and rest on the cheeks. The

prisoner vomits blood and drools. The body turns bright red and can some times

catch fire. Witnesses hear loud sounds, like bacon frying”(Brennan, William-U.S.

supreme Court Justice). Lethal Injections and the firing squad are the other ways

that are used in the United States, they aren’t as brutal if done properly. If done

wrong, the patient can go through extreme pain until they finally die. This classifies

even the least painful, rank up with the most

Before, I felt all killers should be puished for what they had done to people in

society. Now however, I’m against capital Punishment, because of the pain the

prisoners go through for their lst breath of fresh air. Saying it is humane to send

2000 volts through some one for 30 seconds is insane. In one instance, an

inmate’s leg and head caught on fire(Virginia Department of Corrections). In Texas,

Stephen McCoy, who had a violent reaction to drugs, twiched and faught on the

table so violently that 2 male witnesses fainted on the spot(Karen Zellars-Mcoy’s

attorny). Donald Eugene Harding, was executed by cyanide in Arizona. Hardings

spasms and jerks lasted around 6 minutes and 37 seconds(Cameron Harper-

Telivision Journalist who witnessed th execution of harding). With these examples,

how can this be a humane way to kill some one. These aren’t animals that are put to

sleep at the vet, these are human beings. These animals, as we treat them, can still

feel pain, they know suffering, and they still have rights. A lot of people are all for the

death penalty, but what if it were you child, would you be able to watch them send

eletricity through his body, or inject pioson in them. Maybe having chemicals flood

their lungs as they fight to breathe. Until it is your child or something happens to