Capital punishment or the death penalty is considered to be the most severe punishment. It is the execution administered to somebody convicted of a capital offense, such as murder or treason. Capital punishment has been around for thousands of years, from the infamous guillotine to hangings, shootings, and poisonings. It has been banned in numerous countries, but it has not yet been banned in the United States of America. The ban of the death penalty is not fully supported, since the U.S. federal government and 31 of the states still use the death penalty ("Facts about the Death Penalty"). The near future of criminal convictions in the United States depends on the decision on whether capital punishment should be retained or abolished. There is much controversy between whether it should be kept or not, since many disagree on their positions.
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In a case in 1989, Willie Boskett was tried and convicted of stabbing a guard in prison. He was sentenced to 25 years in jail with parole, since the option of death was not available in New York at that time. The judge was positive that Boskett was going to commit homicide and he stated that in sentencing Boskett, he is essentially sentencing an innocent man to death (Gottfried 31-44). Moreover, there was another case similar to this in 1976. Lamuel Smith had robbed a store and killed the owner and the employee. A year later he kidnapped and robbed a woman. He was finally caught and was sentenced to three terms of twenty five years to life. Smith later strangled a corrections officer and cut up her body. Later on, he was sentenced to death by the electric chair by the government of New York, however the Supreme Court disapproved (Gottfried 31-44). Within all of these cases, all of the victim could have been safe from homicide and the deaths of innocents could have been avoided if the death penalty was available and assigned for the punishments
In a case in 1989, Willie Boskett was tried and convicted of stabbing a guard in prison. He was sentenced to 25 years in jail with parole, since the option of death was not available in New York at that time. The judge was positive that Boskett was going to commit homicide and he stated that in sentencing Boskett, he is essentially sentencing an innocent man to death (Gottfried 31-44). Moreover, there was another case similar to this in 1976. Lamuel Smith had robbed a store and killed the owner and the employee. A year later he kidnapped and robbed a woman. He was finally caught and was sentenced to three terms of twenty five years to life. Smith later strangled a corrections officer and cut up her body. Later on, he was sentenced to death by the electric chair by the government of New York, however the Supreme Court disapproved (Gottfried 31-44). Within all of these cases, all of the victim could have been safe from homicide and the deaths of innocents could have been avoided if the death penalty was available and assigned for the punishments