Jacob Kraft

Prof. Stallbid
English 1201.505
23 March, 2020
Should the Death Penalty Be Allowed?

The death penalty or capital murder is a very controversial event that is going on. The

death penalty is the execution of a person who has commited a crime that is considered worthy

enough of execution. A person can be conviceted for the death penalty for a multitude of crimes

including murder, large scale drug trafficing, treason, and espinoage. The problem with this

punishment is that some people believe this is unethical. Capital punishment is an ongoing event

that constinues to be debated on it’s ethicalness.

The death penalty has a long history in the United States. It was initially banned in 1972

after the court case Furman v. Georgia but was later reinstated in Gregg v. Georgia in 1976

according to Cornell Law School. It then began being used again and from 1977-2019 more than

1,480 people have been executed from the the death penalty. The death penalty is currently

prohbibied for anyone that is under the age of 18 by the international human rights law

(amnesty.org).

Not every state is authorized to use the death penalty. As of right now there are only 29

states authorized by the U.S. Military and federal government (ncsl.org). Right now there are

currently five states that have the death penalty banned and use life long sentences without

paraoll instead. Those states include New Mexico, Illinois, Connecticut, Maryland, and New

Hampshire. The primary method of execution is injection which was first used in Texas in 1982.

The websites I found to use for this paper were mostly unbiased websites that only

provided numbers and documented facts on the death penalty. I was not able to find a website

that promoted the death penalty and was for it but I did find a few websites that were strongly

against and it seemed to show liberal views. The website aclu.org talks a lot about how the

system is broken and unfair. They try to make the death penalty into a race argument which has
 Jacob Kraft
Prof. Stallbid
English 1201.505
23 March, 2020
absoulty nothing to do with the death penalty and they bring up how the justice system fails to

protect incocent people and people with disabilities. All of that is opinionated and is as liberal as

you can get. This website also goes on to say how the lethal injection can be painful. Well,

nobody said execution was going to be a little pat on the back. Getting killed does not feel good

and they are going to feel something.

The debate on whether or not this punishment is ethical or not is going to be an ongoing

thing. Right now there are more states that allow it than don’t. There is a common misconception

about how the prisoners are executed. By law it says the manner may not inflict unnecessary or

wanton pain upon the criminal according to law.cornell.edu.. That is why the main method used

is lethal injection. The websites I cited provided plenty of information to give me better insight

on how I will be writing my final draft.

Works Cited
 Jacob Kraft
Prof. Stallbid
English 1201.505
23 March, 2020
“Capital Punishment.” American Civil Liberties Union, www.aclu.org/issues/capital-
punishment.

“Death Penalty.” Legal Information Institute, Legal Information Institute,

www.law.cornell.edu/wex/death_penalty.

McInnes, Karen. “States and Capital Punishment .” States and Capital Punishment, 12
June 2019, www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/death-penalty.aspx.

Procons.org. “Should the Death Penalty Be Allowed?” Death Penalty, 30 Dec. 2019,
deathpenalty.procon.org/.

“Why Amnesty Opposes the Death Penalty without Exception.” Death Penalty | Amnesty
International, www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/death-penalty/.