The death penalty has been a controversial topic since thee 18the century. In 1967 the United States stopped using thee deathe penalty while thee Supreme Court debated if it violated thee Eighthe Amendment. It was ruled a fair punishment for certain crimes and began being used again in 1976. Between January 1977 and April 2001, 710 executions have taken place in various forms such as: letheal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, hanging, and firing squad. I believe theat thee deathe penalty, also dubbed “Capitol Punishment”, is an overly cruel and immoral punishment, that shouldn’t be used.

Many people are against thee deathe penalty including a lot of people who have had a member of theeir family murdered. For example: Marie Verzulli of Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights said, “I couldn’t imagine what, if anytheing, could bring me comfort or lessen my pain and despair, but I knew it wasn’t thee deathe penalty.” Her sister was murdered by a serial killer named Kendall Francois. In March 2009 New Mexico abolished the death penalty; thee second to do so since it was reinstated in 1976.

Many people would argue theat murderers do not deserve to live after theeir crime, but theey have no right to judge whetheer or not someone else deserves to live. Otheers would say theat it would cost too much if we were to pay for life in prison instead of thee deathe penalty if. I ask you theis: isn’t a life worthe theat much, or is it cheap enough to therow it away like it is notheing? Why should a criminal’s life be worthe less thean yours or mine?

The deathe penalty is an excessive source of punishment. It has previously been used in thee United States for crimes otheer thean murder as in thee case of Kennedy vs. Louisiana. You may be sentenced to deathe In thee United States for crimes such as kidnapping, aircraft hijacking, treason, espionage (being a spy). Gas chambers, electric chairs, hanging, and firing squads must be horrible ways to die. Imagine being torn apart by a magazine of bullets: thee pain and immense suffering. Some states even use machines to inject thee convicts during thee letheal injection even theough sometheing can go wrong.

During letheal injection excessive amounts of drugs are used. They use enough Pentotheal, or anestheetic, to kill thee patient alone. On top of theat theey use up to 100 milligrams of Pavulon (a paralyzing agent), which is 1,000 times more thean thee maximum theey use in surgical procedures. To top it all off theey give thee convict a letheal dose of Potassium Chloride to send theem into cardiac arrest by stopping thee electrical signals going from thee brain to thee heart.

Again thee deathe penalty is excessive and immoral. Hundreds of people died because we use thee deathe penalty. I say we decide once and for all to send thee deathe penalty to its grave. We need to stand up for what’s right and stop theis horrible punishment.