Ginther1

Alexis Ginther
Aughenbaugh
English 12
13 March 2015

The Death Penalty

The death penalty is a controversial issue around the world. Some people feel that those who
execute criminals are murderers too. Others feel that someone who commits murder deserves to
die. Having capital punishment (death penalty) in the United States will help keep citizens safe
from future violence from death row inmates. The death penalty is effective and just for
criminals who committed serious crimes.
The legal term of the word capital comes from the Latin word caput, which means
head. Capital Punishment, or the death penalty, is when the government takes a persons life
for him/her doing something illegal or wrong (Stearman 6). Different types of capital
punishment were even used in biblical times. Over the years the way people have been punished
for crimes has changed. In biblical times they sometimes executed people by stoning them.
Stoning people is when the criminal gets hit with large rocks until he/she dies. This was a very
common execution process used back then (Golston 11-12).
The types of death penalty used in the United States currently are lethal injection, hanging,
and electric chair. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice stated that on March 16th, 2011
they will use another substance for lethal injection. They will use it for the upcoming execution

Ginther2

of Cleve Faster on April 5th, 2011 (Greenblatt 40-42). Hanging is not used often today, but in
2006 a famous man by the name of Saddam Hussein was hung for torture and mass killing.
Serial killer Theodore Robert Bundy confessed to killing 30 women, during 1974 through 1979
in Washington, Utah, Colorado and Florida. His total number of victims is unknown and is
estimated to run above one hundred. He was sentenced to die by the electric chair on January 24,
1989 in Starke, Florida (Montaldo 1-1).
Some opponents of capital punishment believe the death penalty violates the 8th Amendment
of the United States Constitution. The 8th Amendment protects people found guilty of cruel
and unusual punishment. Compared to other death sentences, the ways used in the United
States are the most painless and efficient. The chemical used for lethal injection is the same
chemical used to put dogs and cats down. They use enough of the anesthetic to take down an
elephant. The only pain that might be felt is the actual injection of the needle itself. As the
chemical quickly and painlessly goes through the bloodstream to his heart he get drowsy and
falls asleep. When it finally reaches the persons heart they die peacefully. It is a very quick
and just way to end their life (Walker 62).
Some people sympathize with criminals but some of those criminals do too much of a
horrific crime to be let go with life in prison. On March 17th 2005, John Evander Couey was
arrested in Georgia when a young girl named Jessica Lunsford was found missing one morning
(February 24th, 2005). Her parents called the police. When he was arrested, police discovered
that he shoved her in a plastic garbage bag and buried her alive. In March of 2007 he was found
guilty. They found that Couey had several previous records of sexual offenses but was only in
jail for two years and released on parole. If he had received death penalty this would not have
happened and the young girl would be happy alive and well. (Walker 69). There are times where

Ginther3

the death penalty was not used. The Larry Bright case was one of them. He had burned and killed
eight women. He had confessed to the crime but pleaded not guilty. Brenda Erving was one of
his victims. Brenda had a daughter named Cynthia. She was crushed and outraged by the events
that had occurred. She mourned the loss of her mother.
Keeping criminals alive in jail cost the tax payers more than if they just would execute the
criminals when they were found guilty of a felony. The convicts in jail have to be supplied with
food, water, and other accessories needed for the average person to survive. Jails are
overcrowded now also. They need more executions or a lot more money to build bigger jails.
This problem can be easily solved by having the death penalty (Wright 1-1).
People who favor capital punishment commonly use deterrents to fight for the reason why the
death penalty should be used. The word deterrent is described as the inhibition of criminal
behavior by fear, especially of punishment. Revenge is a natural feeling of the human being.
Everyone, once in their life time has experienced that emotion before. If the murderer was
executed legally by capital punishment this could help prevent violent acts later on. The death
penalty plays a role in deterring criminal activity. The death penalty is more likely to deter more
than any other punishment because people fear death more than anything. Most adults and even
most children know the difference between right and wrong. Religion and capital punishment
are closely intertwined. Some religions believe the death penalty is wrong while other religions
opinions differ. The Jewish religion considers capital punishment appropriate for some crimes.
According to Rabbi Arych Kaplan, These punishments existed mainly as a deterrent and
indicate the seriousness of the sins for which they are prescribed. (Walker 87) Other

Ginther4

religions also support the death penalty. From looking at results from the Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance, religious beliefs dont always affect the way people think about capital
punishment. Some churches, such as the Southern Baptists, the Lutheran Church, the Missouri
Synad, and the Latter-Day Saints, are in favor of retaining the death penalty. Even the Christian
Bible states in Genesis when someone murders someone else, death is the appropriate
punishment. According to the Christian church, murder of an innocent person is considered to be
a mortal sin (Walker 38-42).
There is also a lot of support for people outside churches. Out of a series of votes taken in
2005, politics- conservatives, moderates, liberals, men, women, whites, 18-29 year olds, 30-49
year olds, 50-64 year olds, 65 years old +, people who attend church (Protestant, Catholic,
Atheist, Catholics who dont attend church and Protestants who do and dont attend church.
According to these results taken, a large majority of these people favor the death penalty (Carroll
1-7).
Democrats and Republicans only differ slightly when it comes to the debate over capital
punishment. In between the years of 2001-2004, eighty percent (80%) of Republicans favor it,
Seventeen percent (17%) dont, and only three percent (3%) have no opinion. Independents
mostly favor it also. While sixty-five (65%) of them approve, only thirty percent (30%) do not,
and five percent (5%) have no opinion. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Democrats support capital
punishment, Thirty-six percent disapprove. Six percent (6%) have no opinion (Carroll 1-2/7).
Thirty-four states have the death penalty while only sixteen dont, so you can tell a lot of
people approve of the death penalty. The states that do permit have capital punishment are:
Alabama, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arizona, Georgia, Mississippi, Ohio,

Ginther5

Texas, Arkansas, Idaho, Missouri, Oklahoma, Utah, California, Indiana, Montana, Oregon,
Virginia, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Washington, Connecticut, Kentucky,
Nevada, South, Carolina, Wyoming, Delaware, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and South Dakota.
This also includes the United States Government and the United States Military. The sates that
dont accept the death penalty for criminals are: Alaska, Maine, New Jersey, Rhode Island,
Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Vermont, Illinois, Michigan, New York, West Virginia,
Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. Studies show that the
states that have a lot of criminal activities are the ones without the death penalty (Carroll 1-1).

In criminal law legislation, our priority is the well-being of law-abiding citizens, rather than the
rights of those being protected from incriminating evidence. Lee Kuan Yew This means that it
protects the people not breaking the law, not the person who was actually committing the crime
(Walker85).
In conclusion, the death penalty should not be abolished because it helps society in many
ways. It also deters people from future violence. That makes people twice before they do
something regrettable. Also it protects society and lets people know they are safer when they
sleep at night. The death penalty is not cruel, but just.

Works Cited
Carroll, Joseph. Who Supports the Death Penalty? Gallup.com. Gallup, Inc. 2015. Web. 23

Ginther6

Feb 2015. <http://www.gallup.com/poll/14050/who-supports-death-penalty.aspx Nov. 2004>.

Greenblatt, Alan. Death from Washington. governing.com. e.Republic, Inc. 2015. Web. 20
Feb 2015. <http://www.governing.com/topics/public-justice-safety/DeathWashington.html Dec. 2009>.
Golston, Syd. Death Penalty. Detroit: Lucent, 2009. Pages 18-15. Print.
Sharp, Dudley. Death Penalty Paper. prodeathpenalty.com. Justice for All, Inc. 2015. Web. 23
Feb 2015. < http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/dp.html Nov. 2010>.
Stearman, Kay. The Debate about the Death Penalty. New York, 2008. Pages 1-24. Print.
Tanner, Robert. Studies Say Death Penalty Deters Crime. Washington Post.com.
The Associated Press. 2015. Web. 20 Feb 2015. < http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/06/11/AR2007061100406.html n Nov. 2007>.
Walker, Ida. The Death Penalty. Minnesota: ABDO, 2008. Pages 18-95. Print.