The death penalty
1 The Death Penalty There is no easy answer to the capital punishment issue. Most people feel very strongly about it, even though their views differ considerably. This has been a controversial issue for as long as capital punishment has been around. The death penalty has been used through out history. Before societies were organized, people would kill others for committing crimes. They decided who was guilty and the punishment for most crimes was death. Many innocent people were killed in this manner. Laws came about because these people made many errors in judgment. They let their emotions decide who was guilty, not the facts (Flanders 4). During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance Period the use of capital punishment changed very little. Most forms were uncivilized and included great pain. The idea seemed to be that not only should these people die, but that they should suffer greatly while dying. The offenders were killed by various methods, such as burning at the stake or being crushed by heavy stones (Flanders 5). When Henry VIII was king, over 70,000 executions took place. In 1780,
Where it is performed 8 E. 3The gas chamber is used in Arizona, California, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, and North Carolina (World Book 193). The death penalty is a very controversial issue. Their sentences are changed to life in prison, and in some cases they are even eventually released from prison (Radelet 176). One of the reasons given by the people who disapprove of capital punishment is, there is no real evidence that the threat of capital punishment decreases violent crime (Flanders 27). They are thought to be dangerous to all other inmates. Most policemen are not good at handling a weapon and prison officers are even worse. The inmate has to be completely washed down with bleach or ammonia. By the mid- 1800s, there were only four crimes that were punishable by death (Flanders 6).
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