The Importance Of The Death Penalty In The United States

There U.S Government has a lot of different opinions on the death penalty and why it should be legalized. For instance, the U.s death penalty was handled by federal judges and U.S Marshalls. Sentences of death are now handed down by the jury. Timothy McVeigh was executed on June 11, 2001 for being involved in the Oklahoma City bombing. It was the first federal execution since 1963. Reasons for being sentenced to the death penalty are capital offences such as murder, rape resulting in death and aircraft hijacking resulting in death. Pre fur man executions carried out by the prison system were by hanging unlike gas chambers. States such as Massachusetts don’t have the death penalty so they take effort and seek opinions from other states that …show more content…
On July 31, U.S attorney General Eric Holder spoke about the death penalty review underway at the department of justice and the need for greater transparency in lethal injection methods. President Obama has ordered Attorney general Eric holder to review the application of the death penalty in the U.S following the failed execution of Clayton Locket in Oklahoma on April 29. Justice John Stevens said that recent research said that recent research reveals that Texas almost certainly executed an innocent man in 1989 during a discussion at the university of Florida law School. U.S Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens addressed the issue of juveniles and the death penalty while speaking at the 9th circuit’s judicial conference on July 18 2002. President Obama has ordered Attorney General Eric holder to review the application of the death penalty in the U.S following the failed execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma on April 29. There are 31 states with death penalty and those are Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming, and …show more content…
In May 2015, Nebraska voted to abolish the death penalty. 2009, New Mexico voted to abolish the death penalty however the repeal was not retroactive, leaving two people on the state’s death row. Over 75% of the murder victims in cases resulting in an execution were white even though nationally on 50% of murder victims generally are white. Since 1973 more than 150 people have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence. From 1973-1999 there was an average of three exonerations per year, from 200-2011, there was an average of 5 exonerations per year. Since 1976 there has been 1242 Lethal injections, 158 electrocutions, 11 gas chamber, 3 hangings and three fire squads. In 2005, the Supreme Court in roper vs. Simmons struck down the death penalty for juveniles. 22 defendants had been executed for crimes committed as juveniles since