Death Penalty Facts

The death penalty, also known as capital punishment, is an issue that is a topic of debate and controversy throughout the United States. There are many supporters of the death penalty, as the Death Penalty Information Center states that the death penalty is legal within thirty-two states; however there is still a majority of people that oppose capital punishment (“Facts About the Death Penalty” 2015). One of the main reasons people believe the death penalty should be illegal is because they assume it is inhumane and atrocious. This form of punishment is for the most serious and heinous of crimes: first degree murder, murder with special circumstances, such as a repeat offense, rape with additional bodily harm, and finally the federal crime of treason (2015). Furthermore, the executions are carried out in the most humane way possible, as the Bureau of Justice states the most common form of execution being lethal injection, often administered in the presence of physicians (Snell 2015). Therefore, the death penalty should be legal because these executions are carried out as punishment for only the worst of criminals in the most humane and painless way in the presence of doctors, lethal injection. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 87% of the executions since the year 1976 have been
This process ensures that those being executed are treated in a humane manner, experiencing a painless death intended to cause to pain (2015). The first drug used in this process is an anesthetic or sedative, followed by pancuronium bromide to paralyze the inmate, and finally potassium chloride to stop the inmate's heart (2015). The presence of doctor’s in the administration of this three-drug process ensures that the inmate are properly given each of these drugs, preventing the inmates from any unnecessary pain