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Capital Punishment

Our society has become increasingly violent. Gone are the days where you can leave your doors open and your cars unlocked. Family values and morals are declining. Drug abuse, child abuse, domestic violence, and gangs are on the rise. Guns are almost as easy to get as candy. Children are not safe even at school. Society seems obsessed with sex and violence, which is glorified in music and movies. It seems some members of society place little value on human life. With the crime rate increasing, crimes becoming more heinous, and society's killers are becoming younger and younger, the United States which once outlawed capital punishment has brought it back. Some argue that it is justified and some see it as an act of hate. There has always been mixed feelings about capital punishment and that is why I thought it would be a good subject to write about. In my paper I will be explaining what capital punishment means and a brief history on the punishment. Also, I will be giving my opinion on capital punishment and an example as well.
Each year there are about 250 people added to death row and 35 executed. The death penalty is the harshest form of punishment enforced in the United Sates today. Once a jury has convicted a criminal offense they go to the second part of the trial, the punishment phase. If the jury recommends the death penalty and the judge agrees then the criminal will face some form of execution, lethal injection is the most common form used today. There was a period from 1972 to 1976 that capital punishment was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Their reason for this decision was that the death penalty was cruel and unusual punishment under the eighth amendment. The decision was reversed when new methods of execution were introduced. http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/c/capitalp.htm
The American Civil Liberties Union believed the death penalty inherently violates the constitutional ban against cruel and unusual punishment and the...

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