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There has been a total of 374 executions within the United States between 1976 through 1999. The methods of the executions have been electrocutions, lethal injections, gas chambers, firing squads and hangings. Electrocution: An alternating current of about 2000 volts of electricity passes through the body. The criminal is strapped into a specially constructed electric chair. One electrode is applied to the scalp, the other to the calf of one leg. The electrodes are moistened with a salt solution to ensure adequate contact.
Death usually occurs within two minutes after the current has started to flow through the body. Lethal Injection A small tube is inserted in the prisoners vein to ensure easy access when its time to inject the poison. The poison is very lethal and death occurs quickly. Gas Chamber The person is sealed in an enclosure where poison pellets of gas are released.
The poison pollutes the airways and stops all breathing. The gas pellets strangle the prisoner, taking his or her breath away until the veins under the skin burst. Firing Squad Receiving multiple bullets throughout the body while being shot by a firing line. Death usually occurs from a loss of blood unless shot in the heart. Hanging: Suspending the condemned person by the neck, usually with a noted rope or cord from a frame with a crosspiece commonly known as a gallon. Death through hanging results from compression of the windpipe, obstruction of blood flow and rupture of nerve structures in the neck.
The spinal cord is damaged or severed through the fracture or dislocation of the first three cervical vertebrae. (Andrews, Interquest) Take a minute and think of why most countries don't use some of the old methods to carry out the death sentence such as: Crucifixion, boiling in oil, beheading, burning alive, crushing, stoning, or drowning. The United States is still using an uncivilized practice that has been rejected by most countries hundreds of years ago. The eighth amendment of the Constitution states against the infliction of cruel and unusual punishment. This is definitely against the Constitution that the United States hold so dearly is just one reason why the death penalty is wrong. (Gordon, p. 52 - 54) From a religious point of view, many of us were taught that it was wrong to kill per the Ten Commandment's in the command, "THY SHALL NOT KILL." This epitomizes the Divine Command Theory because this was commanded by God and therefore is good. (Gordon, p. 76) There are many verses in the Bible that tells you that execution is wrong. In Mathew 5 it states to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. In John 8 it states that he without sin cast the first stone.
This was stated after a woman was to be stoned to death for adultery. (Gordon, p. 38) People want to not only practice vengeance through execution but also have God agree with them. According to Judaic law, murder is only one of a number of criminal acts that drew the death penalty. Other capital crimes included adultery and being disrespectful to one's parents. The Torah was making a spiritual point that being disrespectful or improperly sexual was just as serious a crime as taking a life. (Jackson, p. 126) People that are for the death penalty are quick to use the passage an "eye for eye" in murder cases.
Why pick just one part of the passage that suits you? Another fact that isn't discussed very often is the fact that the prisoners on death row in the United States are not racially or economically balanced. There are about 25, 000 murders in the United States every year and approximately 200 people are chosen to die for this. Since 1900, 40 cases are known to have put innocent people to death and 23 people were found innocent within minutes of death. (Andrews, Interquest) Virtually all those on death row today are poor, mentally ill, retarded or belonging to minority races. In fact, of those executed, nearly 90 % were convicted of killing whites even though more than half of all homicide victims are of color. (Fraction) Where is the justice from these cruel and inhumane acts? The results of my research clearly show that executing a person is painfully inhumane, religiously incorrect, and very unjust.
Of course this is one sided on my part, but this is how I truly feel and I found no good points supporting the death penalty. Works Cited Andrews, Phillip. "Death Penalty, the truth. " Prisoners Outreach Magazine 15 Aug. 1993: 3 - 7. Philadelphia Times Online. Online.
Interquest. 3 Oct. 2000. Fraction, Laurence. Telephone Interview. 5 Oct. 2000 Gordon, James. Interpretations of the Holy Bible. New York: Enterprise, 1984 Jackson, Paul. Torah in the Spiritual mind.
London: Amnesty International Publications, 1989 Morgan, Hugo. The Death Penalty in the United States: Imposed law and the role of the moral elite. New York: Academic Press, 1992
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Research essay sample on Death Penalty Death Row
