Capital Punishment Essay: Death Penalty Should Be Reconsidered

Death Penalty Should Be Reconsidered      Ã‚   The Death Penalty is among one of the major punishments given by the United States Department of Justice. The following facts were given by the Office of Justice Program, Bureau of Justice Statistics, and the United States Department of Justice themselves. During the year of 1995, Texas was the leading state with nineteen executions. This is about thirty-four percent of the executions in the United States. Also in that year, out of 56 persons who were executed, there were 33 white, 22 black, and one Asian. The persons executed were under sentence of death an average of eleven years and two months. Thirty-four states and the Federal prison system held 3,054 prisoners under sentence of death. This is a little over five percent more than the previous year. These figures are high for the year, 1995. People consider this fair since all these prisoners have committed murder, but sometimes the US Department of Justice can not bring justice to either parties.    As of December 31, 1995, lethal injection was the predominant method of execution in the United States. Out of 50 states, 32 are using this type of execution. There were some states who are still using the other types of execution. Eleven states authorized electrocution, seven of lethal gas, four of hanging, and three states of firing squad. Among these, the least suffering is lethal injection.    The most recent execution in Texas took place on April 3, 1997. A man who killed a woman during the 1989 robbery of a topless bar was executed the day after he made an unsuccessful suicide attempt. David Lee Herman, 39, tried to take away his life by unsuccessfully slashing his throat and wrist with a broken razor. An officer ... ... someone, we are sending the most cynicism about the value of human life. Also every time we execute someone, we as a society sink to the same level as the common killer. Death is lifeà ­s most powerful enemy. Therefore we are against killing people, and we cannot just take away a human being.   Ã‚   Works Cited   Dr. Gus Roberts. expo-l@listserv.uta.edu. Dr. Gus Roberts. May 04, 1997 roberts@ics.net. listserv email. May 04, 1997 Tracy L. Snell. Status of Death Penalty 1995. December 1996. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov.pub.bj.April 28, 1997   Michael L. Radelet and Ronald L. Akers. Deterrenc and the Death Penalty: The Views of the Experts. May 01, 1997. http://sun.soci.niu.edu...dppapers/mike.deterence. May, 03 1997. Associated Press. Murderer Executed a Day After Suicide Attempt. Dallas Morning News. April 03, 1997.