The Controversy Surrounding The Death Penalty

Research Essay The death penalty will always be a topic that will have controversy surrounding it. Whether you side with morality or you side with constitutionality, people will have opposing views to whether or not the death penalty is justified. Many states find themselves struggling to decide if they are pro death penalty or against, to this day 32 states inforce the death penalty while the remaining 18 find the punishment either immoral or unaffordable. The death penalty can be dated back all the way to 1700 BC where the code of Hammurabi listed the rules that could be punishable by death. The list had 25 punishable offenses such as adultery and helping slaves escape to freedom (Guernsey). This list how ever did not talk about murder …show more content…
Typically, three drugs are used in lethal injection. Sodium thiopental or pentobarbital is used as an anesthetic to induce unconsciousness, pancuronium bromide (Pavulon) to cause paralysis and send your respiratory system into arrest, and potassium chloride will stop the heart (penalty). This is where you are given these drugs which then leads you to have an immediate painless death. You can also be granted other means of being put to death such as in Texas and Utah you can choose death by firing squad or hanging. Still to this day people find lethal injection to be the most humane way to put people to death when found guilty. Texas and Utah are violating the humane way of being put to death by giving the choice of firing squad and hanging which support the idea of the death penalty being inhumane. The death penalty has several costs that come with it which supports the side of people who find the penalty immoral. Enforcing the death penalty costs Florida $51 million a year above what it would cost to punish all first-degree murderers with life in …show more content…
The state of Texas has executed 545 people which puts them in first place of most executed, followed by Virginia at 113 and then Oklahoma at 112. (Penalty).
This graph shows the increase of executions over the years but it also shows the recent decline in 2012 to present day. This constant decline is due to the argument of people saying that the death penalty should not be used. Through protests and bringing up proof of where the death penalty is not justified has lowered the amount of executions and has since left judges and juries skeptical of punishing people with the death penalty. When discussing the death penalty you must mention the commonality of which states the death penalty is offered. If you look at the graph you can see southern states primarily offer the death penalty this is mainly because of them being mainly conservative and they are able to afford the expenses that come with the death penalty. For example one of the main reasons why Illinois doesn’t have the death penalty is one they are mostly a liberal state but more importantly they wouldn’t be able to afford the costs that come with the death