Essay, Research Paper: Capital Punishment Report

Capital Punishment
"…it is the special findings of the jury, and the jury's unanimous vote recommending that the defendant shall be sentenced to death, it is the judgment of the court that the defendant, Timothy James McVeigh, is sentenced to death…" Every year, there are many trials that end this way and many trials that don't. Some of these trials take countless years to complete while others are over in a matter of months. However, all of these trials have one thing in common. Their outcome can be declared unconstitutional or unjust.
Capital punishment has been around, in some form, since man ever established a system of law and order. Criminals were sometimes punished for crimes without having a fair trial, or a trial at all. Some executions were not even authorized by the government, but were still carried out. There were no controversies about the cruelty of certain types of punishment either.
Since nobody cared if the one to be killed for his crimes felt any pain, some of the methods were very grotesque. One of the most popular and widely used methods was decapitation. The traditional guillotine was commonly used for this not too painful process. The guillotine was invented by a French humanitarian physician named Joseph Ignace Guillotin. Guillotin recommended in a speech that, "Executions should be performed by a beheading device rather than by hanging, the method used for commoners, or by the sword, reserved for the nobility."
Another of the most common methods of carrying out a death sentence, is through hanging. This method was also used all over the world but is now being discontinued due to its painfulness. Hanging usually took place at a place called the gallows. The gallows were composed of two upright posts supporting a crossbeam from which a noose was suspended. Sometimes hangings took place at a near by tree. These executions were actually regarded as social meetings and picnics by some people and were the occasion of many festivities.
Shooting was also another method of capital punishment. Though this procedure was not as popular as the other two mentioned above, shooting was still used in some places. In this method, the one who is to be killed is usually blindfolded and tied, then shot at by a firing squad. Shooting proved to be quite painful in cases where the prisoner is not instantly killed. Though this is the least costly and easiest method, this procedure has also been discontinued.
There are many people in America today who oppose capital punishment. Most have good reasons to do so. Many don't approve of this because they simply believe that any person does not have the right to take the life of another person, in the name of justice or not. Some others also believe that killing a man not only hurts the man himself, but the man's innocent family. There are other reasons why some oppose the death penalty, including the cruelty in certain methods of killing, race affecting who is killed, and if the one to be killed is very young.

One modern killing technique that is soon to be exterminated is the gas chamber. Clinton Duffy, a warden at San Quentin State Penitentiary describes this gruesome process. "The gas begins to fill the glass chamber. At first there is evidence of extreme horror, pain, and strangling. The eyes pop. The skin turns purple, and the victim begins to drool. It is a horrible sight. Witnesses faint…" In this method, the "victim" is strapped down into a chair in an airtight glass room. Cyanide is pumped through a single air vent until he is dead. The cyanide blocks the flow of air at a cellular level. A doctor then enters the room after the cyanide has been pumped out and checks for the victim's heartbeat. Since 1977, there have only been eight executions in America, using this method. Four of these executions have taken place in Mississippi, the other four in California, Arizona, and Nevada. This method is being eliminated from most states and will soon be completely abolished.
The always feared electric chair is another of the methods of punishment used today. This procedure was created by Thomas Edison, the well-known American inventor. In 1890, in New York, Edison patented his invention and recommended using 1,000 volts of alternating current, hoping to dramatize his warnings that such current is dangerous and thus discredit his rival George Westinghouse. Electrocution was first used to execute a person, also in 1890, on August 6 at Auburn Prison, Auburn, New York, for a man named William Kemmler. There have been a total of 108 electrocutions since 1977, mostly in Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana.

Capital punishment by intravenous drug injection, also known as the lethal injection, is another of the common execution methods. This procedure is more widely accepted in America, because people think that this way is more humane. Lethal injection is quickly replacing other methods in many states, although some states choose to use a more traditional method. In this procedure, an overdose of barbiturates is injected into a vein in the patient's arm. They slowly kill the patient with their poisonous effect. The drugs must be administered by a licensed physician, according to federal law, although some physicians are becoming angry and will possibly begin to force individual prisons to execute their own inmates. The average cost for this type of execution ranges only from $10 - $15.
In addition to the cruelty in certain types of killing, another factor that plots people against capital punishment is possible racial disparities during trials. Studies show that killers of white people are more likely to receive the death penalty than killers of black people. Many other factors also influence the chance of a death sentence, such as the age and race of the defendant, the relationship between the defendant and victim, and any forms of torture inflicted. Over the last 18 years, 88 black people have been executed for killing whites, while only two whites have been executed for killing blacks. Since 1976, 56% of condemned prisoners were white, 38% black, and 6% Hispanic, Native American, or Asian. Studies also show that in 82% of cases, race influences the sentence.
In 1988, the Supreme Court ruled, 5 to 3, that states may not execute people for crimes committed when they were under the age of 16. Although this ruling only affected a minute percentage of people at the time, age has become a very important issue in capital punishment. Some people believe that people who commit crimes before they turn 16 shouldn't be punished as severely as older people, because the blame should go to the delinquent's parents for not being able to control their child.
Although there are some very strong arguments against capital punishment, there are also strong ones supporting the death penalty. There are many reasons for people to support this such as revenge, in personal cases, the saving of tax money, the deterring of other criminals, and an assurance of no more crimes committed by the same person.
There are doubts about the fact that tougher death penalty laws deter lawbreakers from committing crimes. In a recent census taken by Time Magazine, 52% of the general public don't think that stronger death penalty laws deter criminals. There are always individual cases when this topic is discussed, so capital punishment still does and doesn't deter criminals.
The saving of American tax money is also an argument supporting the death penalty. The cost of keeping a man in prison for his whole life, which usually ranges from 30 - 45 years is much more than killing a man for his crimes, at least $20,000 more to be exact. Most American don't really care about what happens to a convicted felon, unless they are directly affected by him. However, for criminals who can't afford to pay their prison fees but have won their right to live, in court, their expenses come out of working American people. This is a concept that has turned many people for capital punishment.
Some religions accept the death penalty. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all are somewhat based on scriptures that include quotes and examples of incidents when capital punishment was used. For example, in the Old Testament, which is followed by the Jewish and Christians, Genesis 9:6 states, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man." Also, in Genesis 6, God was disappointed at the wickedness and evil acts of mankind. The exact nature of the wickedness is not defined. He sent the flood in Genesis 7:6 that killed every man, woman, child, and animal, except for those who were in Noah's ark. God also killed Er in Genesis 38:8 for some unknown form of wickedness. Christians do believe that people can be forgiven for their actions, so there is a vagueness about whether the Bible does actually recommend the death penalty.
Like the Christians and Jews, Muslims go by their own holy scripture called the Quran. The Quran states, "If a man kills a believer intentionally his recompense is Hell to abide therein for ever, and the wrath and the curse of Allah are upon him and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him." This only means that one who commits murder won't necessarily be punished physically while he is living, but on what Muslims call "Yaum-e-Din," or "The Day of Judgment," when god judges his soul and the quality of his life. All three of these religions say almost the same things about capital punishment and mostly depend on how they are interpreted.

When asked a variety of questions concerning the death penalty by the TIME Magazine Survey Staff, randomly selected people answered. As projected on the chart to the right, almost ? of the people favored the use of the death penalty. However, not too many people saw personal vengeance as a reason to kill someone.
Over the past two to three years there have been a few capital punishment cases that have revived the constant debate about this topic. One of these cases includes the sentencing of Timothy McVeigh, the notorious suspect in the Oklahoma State Federal Building bombing. Another is the Unabomber trial, in which Theodore Kaczynski was almost put to death. The execution of Karla Faye Tucker is also a case that has been controversial.

Timothy McVeigh's trial was a typical example of a death penalty trial, although the crime he committed was very unusual. On June 2, 1997, he was found guilty on eight counts, including first degree murder, conspiracy to use a weapon, and use of a weapon of mass destruction. The next day began the punishment trial. McVeigh would either have received a sentence of life in prison or the death sentence. The jury unanimously voted him to receive the death penalty. This jury included a grandmother, a woman who taught the learning disabled, a transit landscaper, a retired Sears employee, a Vietnam war veteran, a computer technician, a nurse, a maintenance worker, a government housing property manager, a restaurant employee, an engineer, and a computer programmer.
The Unabomber trial was similar to the Timothy McVeigh trial, although the final verdict was different. The jurors in this trial were similar to the ones in McVeigh's trial. Theodore Kaczynski, who was suspected to be the unabomber, avoided his death sentence by pleading guilty on all charges. At first, his lawyers were striving to convince the jury that Kaczynski was severely mentally disabled, but toward the end of the trial, focused on trying to make a deal that was to keep him away from the death sentence. He faced a sentence of life in prison.
On February 3, 1998, the state of Texas put 38-year-old Karla Faye Tucker to death, despite international efforts to have her death sentence commuted to life in prison. Tucker was sentenced to death for the 1983 pickax killings of a Houston couple, but during her 14 years in prison she had a religious conversion. Her supporters said she was no longer a threat to society. Because of her gender and religious conversion, her cause attracted support from around the world, with appeals for clemency coming from Pope John Paul, the United Nations and the European Parliament. However, her last minute struggle for live didn't help. She was killed by lethal injection. Tucker was the first woman to be executed in Texas since 1863, and only the second woman to be executed since the death penalty was reinstated in the United States in 1976.
Americans have opposing views about the death penalty, and there are strong arguments from both sides of this debatable issue. One day, the death penalty may be replaced by something everybody will agree on. However, capital punishment probably won't be discontinued in the near future.