Spencer Marrow
             12/5/00
             Death Penalty: thoughts
             The Death Penalty has always been a topic of debate. Weather or not it is morally right for a convicted felon to be committed to death for a crime or life in jail. Execution under civil authority can be viewed the same way as murdering someone in cold blood. But to others on the other hand it is the right thing to do so the person will pay the ultimate price for their crime.
             From all of the materials that I have read to write this paper, it appears that the Untied States is one of the leading countries that use the death penalty. In the countries of Europe, Canada, Australia the death penalty has been totally outlawed. In the US forty of our fifty states caries out the death penalty with a total of some 3,300 inmates on death row.
             All criminals that are up for being sentenced for death must have their case reviewed by the Commission on the Federal Death Penalty if it is held at the Federal Court level. This commission is compiled of a total of 15 members. There are three Federal prosecutors; three attorneys experienced in capital defense, two former Federal judges, two members of Federal law enforcement, and five persons with expertise in the matters. The President, Attorney General, and Chairman choose all of these people. Ranking Members of the Committees of Judiciary of the House of Representatives, and the Senate make up the rest of the committee.
             This commission monitors all cases at the Federal level in which the convicted felon is sentences to the death penalty. They make sure that the cases sentence is fair, just, equality, and follows due process. Wrongful convictions are another main focal point for the commission. They have to be totally sure that the criminal should be sentences to the death penalty. One recent way of assuring that they have the rite person is to include DNA testing in the case when available, when this is introduces into a case it is a ...