OverviewWHAT IS THE DEATH PENALTY? The Death Penalty, also known as capital punishment, is the practice of sentencing a criminal who was convicted and found guilty for an extreme crime to death. In most cases, the death penalty is performed through the use of a lethal injection, which painlessly kills the victim. However, in history, capital punishment has been carried out in various ways, including electrocution, hanging, lethal gas, or a firing squad. When a criminal is electrocuted, they are strapped to a chair that is designed to fry every part of their body including the brain and other organs. In a death by a firing squad, the criminal is blindfolded and restrained before being killed by a small group of military personnel. Despite the multiple methods that have been used in the past, a majority of the twenty six states who utilize the death penalty primarily or exclusively use the method of lethal injection.
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IS THE DEATH PENALTY LEGAL? The practice of sentencing a person to death as punishment for a crime has become a controversial issue due to the fact that many believe that it is a form of cruel and unusual punishment. In fact, twenty states have abolished the death penalty completely, including Michigan, New York, and New Mexico. In Pennsylvania, Washington, Oregon, and Colorado, the use of the death penalty is currently prohibited by the governor, but there is no set law in place to ban it. Another reason why the death penalty can be controversial is due to the fact that many people believe that sentencing a criminal to life in prison would be a more suitable punishment. In addition to this, some people feel that the issue of the death penalty is a gray area due to the fact that they may not agree with what crimes are deserving of death. While homicide may be a crime that is open to the death penalty, historically, only large genocides, murders involving kidnapping, and murders as a result of terrorism have qualified for the death penalty. Crimes such as treason and espionage are also considered capital offenses. In the cases of single person homicides, whether or not the death penalty should be given becomes a topic that varies based on one’s political view.
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