Death Penalty Research Paper
Kimberly Ferrell
Professor Sanders
English 1301, Section 341
9 December 2010 A Vicious Cycle of Anger and Hatred
The eighth amendment is designed to protect us from cruel and unusual punishment. Conservation of the United States Constitution, and all moral ideologies have been set aside. An old form of barbaric punishment and the saying "eye for an eye" is still being widely accepted by Americans today. The old form of barbaric punishment is capital punishment. No matter how "humane" the death penalty has become, it is still the killing of another human being. When people stand outside prisons and cheer that an individual was murdered, there is a problem. When people justify the killing of another person, there is a problem. Capital Punishment is irrefutably murder, and murder is never justified. Capital punishment is the penalty of a capital offense resulting in death. Thirty-eight states currently support the death penalty. Human beings have always felt a need to punish those who did wrong and scare those who thought of doing wrong. Capital punishment has evolved over the years due to a never-ending search for a "humane" way to kill: from public hangings, gas chambers, electric chairs, shooting by firing squads, and finally the now leading form of execution- lethal injection (Gerber and Johnson 1-19). When an inmate is awaiting lethal injection they are bound to a gurney and then proceed to have several heart monitors positioned on the skin by a member of the execution team. Two needles are inserted into a usable vein, which is usually in the inmate's arm, and then long tubes connect the needle through a hole in a cement wall and the inmate awaits their multiple drips of death. The inmate is first injected with a saline solution which is started immediately. Then, at the wardens signal, a curtain is raised which exposes the soon to be murdered inmate to the witnesses in an adjoining room. The inmate is then injected with
Professor Sanders
English 1301, Section 341
9 December 2010 A Vicious Cycle of Anger and Hatred
The eighth amendment is designed to protect us from cruel and unusual punishment. Conservation of the United States Constitution, and all moral ideologies have been set aside. An old form of barbaric punishment and the saying "eye for an eye" is still being widely accepted by Americans today. The old form of barbaric punishment is capital punishment. No matter how "humane" the death penalty has become, it is still the killing of another human being. When people stand outside prisons and cheer that an individual was murdered, there is a problem. When people justify the killing of another person, there is a problem. Capital Punishment is irrefutably murder, and murder is never justified. Capital punishment is the penalty of a capital offense resulting in death. Thirty-eight states currently support the death penalty. Human beings have always felt a need to punish those who did wrong and scare those who thought of doing wrong. Capital punishment has evolved over the years due to a never-ending search for a "humane" way to kill: from public hangings, gas chambers, electric chairs, shooting by firing squads, and finally the now leading form of execution- lethal injection (Gerber and Johnson 1-19). When an inmate is awaiting lethal injection they are bound to a gurney and then proceed to have several heart monitors positioned on the skin by a member of the execution team. Two needles are inserted into a usable vein, which is usually in the inmate's arm, and then long tubes connect the needle through a hole in a cement wall and the inmate awaits their multiple drips of death. The inmate is first injected with a saline solution which is started immediately. Then, at the wardens signal, a curtain is raised which exposes the soon to be murdered inmate to the witnesses in an adjoining room. The inmate is then injected with