Essay Example on Death Penalty

The United States has always been a divided country on various diverse topics. When we talk about controvercial topics, the death penalty comes out on the top. Though some states choose not to use this method of punishment, 27 major states still, to this day, use the capital punishment. So should we be in favor of the death penalty? 

To the United States, the death penalty dates as far back as the 1600’s to the first recorded execution of Captian George Kendall from the colony of Jamestown in Virginia, 1608. The death penalty was first inroduced to us by the European settlers when they first came and brought the practice of the capital punishment. In the year 1612, Governor Sir Thomas Dale of Virginia, made the “Divine, Moral and Martial Laws”, which stated that the death penalty was implemented for all offences including the most minor ones such as stealing grapes, killing chickens and so on. 

Majority of Americans do agree with the death penalty but see some risk in executing the innocent. From April 5 to April 11, a survey conducted on 5,109 U.S adults by Pew Research Center, showed that 60% of adults favor the death penalty for convicted muerderers. This study also shows that this rate is 5% lower than what it was when the survey was first offered in August 2020. However, we see this pattern occur frequently, as the support for the death penalty declined similarly between the late 1990’s and early 2010’s. Opinions on the death penalty vary, but those who support it believe that the death penalty in morally justifed for someone who has been convicted of murder.  

Why is the death penalty called the capital punishment?  This is because, in states that allow that death penalty, the Supreme Court oversees that the punishment is justtifed and being served correctly and not inhumane. So if the death penalty is a “bad thing” then why is it allowed by the Supreme Court in many states? The answer is that the capital punishment is sometimes justified if you base yourself on who it is being appliled to. 

An example of this would be the case of John Wayne Gacy. John Wayne Gacy was born on March 17, 1942 and was executed by lethal injection on May 10, 1994. During his life span, Mr. Gacy regularly performed in children's hospitals and charitable events. His persona was a clown by the name of "Pogo the Clown" or "Patches the Clown". Behind this facade, Mr. Gacy was accused and charged with the sexual assult and murder of at least 33 young men and boys. According to Mr. Gacy, he commited all of these murders inside his ranch house in Northridge, Wisconsin. An interview with Detective David Hachmeister, revealed that in his first murder, Gacy stabbed the individual to death but it caused such a mess that he came up with another plan to stangle each individual he killed after. Gacy explained that typically, he would lure a victim to his home, put them in handcuffs with the intention of showing them a magic trick, then rape and tourture his victim before killing them by asphyxiation or strangulation. It was found that 26 victims were buried in a crawl space underneath Gacy’s house, 3 victims were found somewhere else in his property and four bodies were discarded and recovered in the Des Plaines River. Gacy’s last murder was that of Robert Piest, a 15 year-old boy whose murder led to the arrest of Gacy when he want missing. Gacy spent 14 years at Menard Correctional Center before finally being flown to Stateville Correctional Center and being put to death. After learning the torture that the victims went through, friends and family of said victims agree that they will never be albe to forgive Gacy of the hurt and pain he caused. So, in John Wayne Gacy’s case, was the capital punishment justified? 

Out of 50 states, 27 still use the capital punishment and the other 23 have eradicated  itfrom it punishments. States that still use the penalty are; Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. The states that no longer use the death penalty are; Alaska, Colorado, Conneticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusets, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersy, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rohde Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virgina and Wisconsin. New Mexico is one of the states that no longer uses the death penalty, it was abolished in March of 2009. Unfortunately, the appeal was not retroactive, so when it was eradicated, the two prisoners who were on death row, were resentensed to life in prison.

What if one of the cases where they use the death penalty turns out to be wrong? What happens then? For example, what if a prisoner was put to death because police believe that their evidence is solid and it led them to the correct person, but a while after his execution, new evidence comes to light that claims he was in fact innocent? Could this situation happen in real life?