My Search Story

Why do we kill people to show that killing is wrong? There are many different types of
the death penalty. The most popular method is the lethal injection, but lately, it has been failing.
Over time, many states have abolished the death penalty but some still have it. There have been
many different arguments against the death penalty. The death penalty is inhuman and must be
banned from the United States.
When I choose to do my research project on the death penalty I knew some basic things
about it, like some of the different types and some of the states that have it. At first, I did not
know if the death penalty is good or bad for our country. In the end I decided that the death
penalty is wrong and should be banned. We had to get at least seven databases but I got ten.
Sometimes I had trouble with the printers so I had to print to a different printer or print it later.
Sometimes I could not find very good information on a database so I had to find a different
database that had very good information. Later on in the process I learned how to C.R.A.P* on
two websites. I also had some trouble wording my thesis statement. At one point I needed more
notecards but I did not have any more information in the databases I printed out. I went back to
the databases and got one more article that gave me 19 more notecards. Then, we had to pick
from doing a poll or an interview. I chose to make a poll rather than doing an interview. I did not
have any trouble doing my poll in the most part. When I had to do my final outline I almost did
not finish it because I had to go to dance for three hours. I was able to skip my last dance class so
I was able to finish my outline.

*C.R.A.P = Currency, Reliability, Authority, Purpose / Point of View

My Poll Process
When we had to chose whether to conduct a poll or set up an interview. I chose to
conduct a poll. I chose to do the poll because I did not know who to interview. I also wanted to
know what adults and students think about the death penalty. I wanted to see what adults and
kids my age knew about the death penalty. I polled three Larson students, Sarah, Anna, and
Shreya. I polled three family members, mom, dad, and my cousin, Karin. I polled three Larson
teachers, Mrs.Lee, Mrs. Brennan, and Mrs. Murphy. My last person did not want her name in my
paper. I conducted my poll by first making five statements that are answered by agree, disagree,
or neutral. Then, I went to each person and polled them. I found out that 100% of the people I
polled thought the death penalty is wrong and should be banned. 40% of the people agreed that
the most common way of the death penalty is by lethal injection and 60% are neutral. 70% of the
people I polled said that Texas gives out the most amount of the death penalty and 30% were
neutral. 90% of the people agreed that some people who get the death penalty are innocent and
10% are neutral. 60% of the people I polled agreed that there have been many failed lethal
injections. 10% of the people disagreed and 30% were neutral.

Search Findings
There are many different types of death penalty that are used in different places in the
United States. There are many different methods that were and are used for the death penalty.
There are two methods that were very common and are well known. The first method is by being
hanged. This was the most common way of killing criminals from the early 1600s to the 1910s
(Smith). The second way was by using the electric chair. By 1920s this was the most common
way to execute criminals (Smith). These are well known ways to be executed because they were
used the most and are well known in history. There are also other methods of the death penalty

that are not as well known. One is the gas chamber, which was used from 1924 to 1960 (Smith).
Another is by being burned at the stake and yet another method, related to being burned at the
stake, is the firing squad (Smith). There was also pressing, which is when weight is applied on a
person until they are crushed to death (Smith). There was also gibbeting, which is when a person
is put in a cage and left to die of thirst and hunger (Smith). These are less known because they
are/were not used as often. There is one type that is common today. This method is called the
lethal injection and it is now the most used method in the United States (Smith). It is now the
most used method because it is supposed to be the most humane method. However, even today,
different states use different methods. Eight states still allow electrocution, three allow hanging,
two allow the firing squad, and three allow the gas chamber (Berman). Some states even allow
the person to choose between two ways to be executed (Berman). Other states options depend on
when the person committed the crime or when they were convicted (Berman). This shows that
the states that still use the death penalty uses different ways to execute criminals. There is many
methods of the death penalty and the most common now is the lethal injection, but they are
starting to fail.
The lethal injections are starting to fail and there may be some reasons why. There have
been a couple of injections that have failed but there has been some cases that are well known.
One of them is about a man named Lockett. He was sentenced to die by lethal injection but the
injection failed and 30 minutes later he died from a heart attack (Smith). If lethal injections keep
failing this method is no longer humane because they have to suffer for much longer. Another
case of a failed lethal injection was on a man named Wood in Arizona. It took about two hours
before Wood died by lethal injection (Smith). The lethal injection should not take this long to kill
a person, it should be almost instantaneous. There are several reasons why the injection is failing.

In the injection, we use an anesthetic, a paralytic drug, and a drug that will stop the heart
(Berman). However, European officials and companies that have these drugs that we, in the
U.S., dont have, will not give the drugs to us because we would use them for the death penalty
(Berman). This give us two choices: to stop the death penalty (by lethal injection) or find other
drugs. Since states that still use the death penalty still want to have the death penalty, they are
trying to find other drugs that work the same as the original drugs, but are having a hard time
(Berman). Therefore, the injections are failing because even if they test the injections on animals,
animals are different from humans, so the results would be different. Even with the lethal
injections failing, there are some states that need it to carry out death penalty sentences.
There are many states that dont and there are states that do use that death penalty. There
are some states that still use the death penalty but where the death penalty is starting to lose
favor. There are seven states that have and still use the death penalty (Slow). This may not seem
to be a lot of states, but some of those states use the death penalty a lot. New Hampshire, for
example, had almost abolished the death penalty but did not because of one vote (Berman). New
Hampshire most likely will still use the death penalty but will probably not use it that much.
There are also many states that do not use the death penalty anymore. Eighteen states abolished
the death penalty including, New Mexico, Illinois, Connecticut, and Maryland (Smith). This
shows that more states are willing to get rid of the death penalty. Oklahoma also stopped
executions after a failed execution in April, 2014 (Executions). This may not mean they will get
rid of the death penalty forever, but they might start to think that they dont need that death
penalty anymore. There are about 11 states that are debating whether they should or should not
abolish the death penalty (Smith). This is a good sign that more states may get rid of the death
penalty. In the United States, the death penalty is more common in some places than in others.

For example, the death penalty is more common in the South than in the any other place in the
U.S. (Bryce). The southern states of Texas, Florida, and Louisiana are more likely to give out
death penalties. In fact, Texas has the highest execution rate in the United States (Bryce). This
helps prove that the death penalty in more common in the South. Not only is the amount of states
that use the death penalty is decreasing, but the amount of people in favor of the death penalty is
also decreasing. In 1996, the death penalty had 78% of American citizens in favor and 18%
opposed to it. By 2013, 55% supported the death penalty and 37% opposed the death penalty
(Berman). As you can see, the death penalty, overtime, is losing support and gaining opposition.
The amounts of executions are also dropping. From 1997 - 2005 the average amount of
executions was 71.1 and from 2006 - 2013 that average was 44.3 executions (Berman). In 1998,
98 people were executed, and in 2014 only 14 people were executed (Guarino). Thus, over the
years, we have been using the death penalty less, which is having a positive effect on stopping
the death penalty. The death penalty is losing favor in the states and is being used less and less,
this may be happening because there are many arguments against the death penalty.
There are many different arguments against the death penalty. One point of view states
that it is wrong and that there are other ways to deal with criminals. Putting people to death is no
different from murdering them and that a life in prison is a better punishment because then they
live in shame (Death). This is true because in prison they are thinking about what they did. Also,
the death penalty violates the Eighth Amendment, which states there should be no cruel and
unusual punishments (Lounsberry). This counts as a cruel punishment because you are
murdering them and sometimes, when the injection fails, you also inflict great pain. There is also
no proof that the death penalty actually stops people from murdering other people (Death). If the
death penalty does not stop people from killing other people then why have a punishment that

does not do what it is supposed to do. There is also the cost of the death penalty. It costs more to
execute someone than to lockup that person forever (Slow). This is most likely the case because
it costs more to get all the supplies to execute someone than to get food and water for that
person. Not only the cost but sometimes there are not enough investigations. Most states that
have that death penalty dont help or fully investigate peoples cases (Lounsberry). This does not
give the people a good trial because if they were wrongly convicted, they might still get the death
penalty. Some people are not represented well so they would most likely get the death penalty,
while people who are represented well are not as likely to get the death penalty. People that are
convicted with the death penalty are sometimes found innocent. A recent study found that at least
4.1% of the people on the death row may have been wrongly convicted (Berman). This means
that people who are going to get executed are actually innocent. Now more people are becoming
aware that there are mistakes in the system (Khadaroo). Now that more people are aware of this,
more people will oppose the death penalty, which will help end the death penalty in the United
States. There has also have been false accusations, perjured testimony, and official misconduct
(Guarino). This shows that people do lie and accuse people who are innocent. There are many
arguments against the death penalty in many different ways, such as cost, innocent people, and
how it is a crime.
I think that killing people is wrong and it is a crime. It would be better if they were
locked up or given a second chance. I also believe that people who get the death penalty may be
innocent. I think that it is good that the death penalty is not used as much anymore and that it is
losing favor in the United States. Lastly, I believe that if lethal injections are not working
anymore they need to find something else to use if we are still going to use the death penalty. In
my opinion, the death penalty is wrong and should be banned.