Capital Punishment in the US is a very confusing topic.

Many states have abolished the

idea completely in the 1960s and 70s, but many still use the method today. There used to be a
lot of methods of capital punishment, including the electric chair, decapitation, shooting, burning,
boiling, impalement, sawing, flaying, and many more. Now, lethal injection is the main form of
capital punishment in the US. Even though its not used too often, a lot of people dont like the
idea of it. They think itd be better to have people just sit and rot in prison, instead of have them
die. 18 states have already abolished, but 32 still use it. 6 states have abolished it since 2006,
and more will surely follow.
Abolition of Capital Punishment in the United States is emphasized by a lot of people,
but many citizens are also supporting the death penalty. Like all debates, there a two
arguments. Those in support say the death penalty gives murderers a punishment fitting to
them, while the ones against claim that it doesnt make sense to show people killing is bad, by
killing them. They also say that its better to see them rot in prison, so they have to think about
what they did and live with that forever. As of 2013, Texas is the state with the most inmates on
death row, having 289 prisoners currently awaiting the death sentence. Wyoming and Montana
are currently tied at the bottom, both having only 1 inmate on death row (the ones with none
dont count, since they dont use the death penalty). The death penalty was in use fairly often
until 1967, in the Furman v. Georgia case. In this case, William Furman broke into someones
house to try and rob them. The person who lived in the house woke up to this, and obviously
was alarmed. Furman tried to escape, and apparently tripped and accidentally shot the resident.
He claimed that, and he also claimed he blindly fired and shot the resident. After a one day trial,
he was sentenced to death. The court then overturned this outcome, and he was put in prison,
and released in 1984. This put a halt on the death sentence, and put the eighth and fourteenth
amendments in question. The said amendments were in question, due to Furmans sixth grade
education and mental instability. All through the seventies, many states took another look at
their death penalties and narrowed who was put on death row and who wasnt. Ever since this
case, the lethal injection has been the main way of sentencing inmates to death. This case
severely impacted capital punishment, and changed many states views on the subject.
On average, two states outlaw capital punishment every year. At this rate, the US will be
completely capital punishment free by 2031. However, this is unlikely to happen, due to the
states that will continue to support death sentences (similar to the states that still think gay
marriage should be illegal). Since there are many views on Capital Punishment, and both bring
up truly valid points, I think the solution is to simply keep it the way it is (in the US at least.
Internationally, we could use some work). There are some situations where capital punishment
makes sense, (serial killers, mass murderers, rapists, etc.) but it also doesnt apply to some
people (those who are mentally ill or under 18 at the time the crime was committed). The only
adjustment that I think needs to be made in the United States laws on Capital Punishment is
what crimes apply to it. Currently there are 50 crimes that can result in being sentenced to death
row, and I think it would be much more effective if shortened significantly. Crimes involving
Murder and Rape would be the main crimes that result in the death sentence, since they are
some of the worst things a human can do. Not only would that significantly lower the amount of
death sentenced inmate in the US, but it would also make us seem much better than countries

like China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq, since they are the only countries that use capital
punishment more than us (theyre not beating us by too much, except for China). I feel like if the
laws were changed, the US judicial system would be a lot easier to work through and the death
sentence would be given in only dire situations.

Bibliography:

"CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN THE UNITED STATES." CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN THE

UNITED STATES. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.
"American Civil Liberties Union." American Civil Liberties Union. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.
"Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)." Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr.
2013.