The death Penalty The death penalty (Also known as capital punishment) has been legalized in 31 states. It has also been legalized in the federal civilian and military legal systems. The application of this law is however limited to the changes committed to the constitution that I can only be passed to individuals who are adults and who have a sane mind in the time of committing a murder crime. The practice of capital punishment has its origin in the English common law for many felonies and was later forced on all British colonies before they attained independence. The methods used to execute the punishments however varied from state to state and were changed by the leaders over time with the most preferred method being the injection by a lethal poison. The executions have been carried out successfully in many states in the USA since then. A total of 28 inmates were executed in the United States in the states of Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia. The number of the inmates on death row was estimated to be over 3,000. The leading state in these executions is Alabama with the latest case being in 2011. The other states have however a considerable frequency of the executions. The death penalty is nowadays prevalent only in the USA. All countries in the world have abolished these laws. The first case of capital punishment was the execution of a Spanish spy Captain George Kendall by the British in North America in the year 1968. He was executed by the firing squad at the Jamestown colony. The next was the hanging of the British Major Andre by the then continental army. This took place during the American Revolution war at Tappan in New York. The event took place on October 2, 1780. He had been convicted of espionage. There are also various documented cases of capital punishment throughout the US. In one of the files by a writer M. Watt Espy and John Ortiz Smykla, a total of 15,269 people were executed between 1608 and the year 1991. The US also executed 135 soldiers between 1916 and 1955. It is evident that executions were very common in the 19th century in the US. The history of capital punishment cannot go without the mention of the execution of the 38 American Indians who were accused of rape and murder in the Dakota war of 1862. The executions were simultaneous and were carried out on Dec 26th 1862 in Mankato, Minnesota. They were killed by a four-sided platform that had being released by cutting a rope that held it. Only one of them survived because his rope had broken without the executioner’s knowledge but he was later hanged. The second largest case was the execution by hanging 13 African-American Soldiers who took part in a riot in Houston in the year 1917. A non- military execution also took place in 1723 where 26 pirates who had been convicted were hanged in the Rhode Island which was one of the original thirteen colonies. Capital punishment is to date still a very controversial topic in most of the communities ...

1. The death Penalty
The death penalty (Also known as capital punishment) has been
legalized in 31 states. It has also been legalized in the federal
civilian and military legal systems. The application of this law
is however limited to the changes committed to the constitution
that I can only be passed to individuals who are adults and who
have a sane mind in the time of committing a murder crime. The
practice of capital punishment has its origin in the English
common law for many felonies and was later forced on all
British colonies before they attained independence. The
methods used to execute the punishments however varied from
state to state and were changed by the leaders over time with
the most preferred method being the injection by a lethal
poison. The executions have been carried out successfully in
many states in the USA since then.
A total of 28 inmates were executed in the United States in the
states of Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and
Virginia. The number of the inmates on death row was
estimated to be over 3,000. The leading state in these
executions is Alabama with the latest case being in 2011. The
other states have however a considerable frequency of the
executions. The death penalty is nowadays prevalent only in the
USA. All countries in the world have abolished these laws.
The first case of capital punishment was the execution of a
Spanish spy Captain George Kendall by the British in North
America in the year 1968. He was executed by the firing squad
at the Jamestown colony. The next was the hanging of the
British Major Andre by the then continental army. This took
place during the American Revolution war at Tappan in New
York. The event took place on October 2, 1780. He had been
convicted of espionage. There are also various documented
cases of capital punishment throughout the US. In one of the
files by a writer M. Watt Espy and John Ortiz Smykla, a total of
15,269 people were executed between 1608 and the year 1991.

2. The US also executed 135 soldiers between 1916 and 1955. It
is evident that executions were very common in the 19th century
in the US.
The history of capital punishment cannot go without the
mention of the execution of the 38 American Indians who were
accused of rape and murder in the Dakota war of 1862. The
executions were simultaneous and were carried out on Dec 26th
1862 in Mankato, Minnesota. They were killed by a four-sided
platform that had being released by cutting a rope that held it.
Only one of them survived because his rope had broken without
the executioner’s knowledge but he was later hanged. The
second largest case was the execution by hanging 13 African-
American Soldiers who took part in a riot in Houston in the year
1917. A non- military execution also took place in 1723 where
26 pirates who had been convicted were hanged in the Rhode
Island which was one of the original thirteen colonies.
Capital punishment is to date still a very controversial topic in
most of the communities in the world today. Different people
have different reasons for supporting or opposing the practice.
The major reasons for any kind of bias to the topic were
emotional opposition, morality, law and order among the
student community in the US. The other significant reasons
were the fear of crime, religion and other methods of
punishment to the convicts. This indicates that there is a need to
pay a greater level of attention and indulge in deeper research
concerning the topic. Politics also play a major role in the
support or opposition of capital punishment. Research has
shown that Republicans are generally for it while Democrats do
not support it. Most religions also do not advocate for capital
punishment.
There are reasons why I would support capital punishment
although I still would advocate for a better solution if it was my
call. The major reason is deterrence. This means that the
penalty holds criminals back by the mere mentality that the
severity of the punishment is way too harsh compared to the
benefits. In some cases this is exercised by dealing with the

3. offender in a way that the other prospective offenders learn a
lesson and stay away from crime. This has worked well for the
crimes of murder and hence should be adopted even by other
countries in the world. Other sects of politicians argue that
deterrence is not actually effective by capital punishment as it
tends to promote more crime (brutalization effect). The
deterrence theory is however of the position that violence is
minimized through capital punishment.
Another major reason for my support for death penalty is that it
helps create an attitude in the public about capital crimes. This
is the attribution theory, which advocates for an equal
punishment for an evil activity/crime committed. This helps
scare away criminals and promotes morality in the society. This
can even be supported by the bible in the book of Leviticus
where the punishment exercised on a person was equal to the
crime he had committed. If a person commits murder, he is
supposed to be killed. It is however limited to murder. It is
important that people do not take reattribution as a revenge
method and that the families of the affected people should not
take it an emotional punishment to them as it has been the case
in the past. It should instead be taken that the society has been
helped in getting rid of a person who was a social misfit. In my
opinion the authorities and the government should enforce this
method.
Incapacitation is another reason why I would advocate for
capital punishment. This is the total confinement of criminal
offenders in state facilities to deter them from indulging crime.
One of the methods of doing this is by death. This makes sure
that he does not victimize inmates and also eradicates the
possibility of escape from the prison and possible harm to the
general public. This is also a reason for abolishing the life
sentence which in actual sense does not mean a criminal gets to
spend the rest of his life in prison. Somehow, the criminals tend
to get released somewhere down the line and they go back and
continue terrorizing the innocent people. Execution of such
criminals guarantees safety in the future.

4. The other rational reason why I would support capital
punishment is the mere intolerance to insecurity that continues
to wreak havoc in the community. The authorities need to
tighten the security apparatus so as to guarantee safety to the
innocent Kenyans. If this means death penalty for offenders,
then let it be. It is also cheaper to execute the criminals and rid
the government of unnecessary expenses of taking care of
criminals.
However, there are other reasons that win against capital
punishment. The core one is morality. However much a human
person commits crime, it is still immoral for him or her to be
executed. This is regarded as against civilization. There is a
saying that states that an eye for an eye leaves the world blind.
This is quite a good reason for the state authorities to drop the
punitive punishment methods like death penalties. There is also
the risk of executing the wrong people in states and countries
where justice is highly compromised. The passing of these
judgments is sometimes motivated and guided by emotions of
the judges. This is very unfair and should be used as a valid
reason for the abolition of the sentence.Rehabilitation of the
criminals should instead be encouraged. This will make sure
that the offenders return to the right path and they become
useful in the society. This is also referred to as treatment. It has
been supported and opposed in equal measure especially in the
western countries. Religiously, it is illogical to argue that
capital punishment equals the odds for the crimes committed. So
whilst, rehabilitation is a valid reason to oppose capital
punishment, the other three punishment ideologies clearly
provide reasons for supporting the death penalty.
My take on capital punishment is that, though it may seem to
serve justice to the families of those afflicted, it is important
that there is respect for human rights in the execution process.
Some of the methods used to execute the criminals are very
inhuman and do not respect human dignity. The execution of
criminals does not guarantee making the community of crime as
new criminals continue to be born each day. The government

5. and the international community need to adopt other means of
dealing with hardcore criminals. This has already been adopted
by majority of countries in the world and it is only fair that the
US follows suit. This will save the families of the criminals the
mental torture of bearing with the fact that their loved one is
about to be taken away from them in the most inhuman manner.
It will also give a chance to the criminals to rehabilitate and
pursue constructive activities in their life. Biblically, it is a sin
to take the life of a person regardless of the crime he has
committed. It is also stated that revenge should be left to God.
Basing my argument on this, I would recommend an alternative
method of punishment to capital punishment.
The abolition of capital punishment in two thirds of the
countries in the world is a positive move and should be
applauded. The US needs to follow suit and end the vice. It is
evident that executions have been based on racial prejudices
with most victims being the blacks. Some of them are
innocently executed due to faulty investigations and judgments.
The legal process towards execution is also very expensive and
consumes unnecessary resources. This practice has also been
biased when it comes to foreigners. It has been documented that
28 foreign nationals have been executed without being informed
of their offences and this has strained international relations
between the US and their native countries. This obviously
something that needs to be discouraged. It is also against the
international laws on human rights passed in the year 1948
which discourages capital punishment. It is a shame that the US
still upholds such inhuman laws. The use of voluntary
confession can also not be used to validate executions as in
most cases, the victims were tortured into admitting the crimes
(As was the case in the Madison Hobley and Anderson Peterson
in Illinois) other cases involved the judges being corruptly
compromised hence leading to very wrongful executions. Some
of the other factors that have contributed to wrongful
convictions include: Inadequate presentation, Jailhouse
testimony, misinterpretation of evidence and political or

6. communal influence. These factors lead to disregard of human
rights during the passing of the judgment.
It is also against the medical practice law to kill a person. The
execution of criminals by lethal injections puts the medical
practitioners at cross roads as they have sworn an oath to
protect lives. This makes the professional ethics of these
doctors compromised and hence should be discourage. The state
needs to acknowledge that times have passed when the punitive
laws were practiced. We need to adopt judicial systems that
regard human life and give second chances to offenders and
criminals irrespective of their magnitudes. This will open doors
for the adoption of better methods of punishment and
rehabilitation. No one needs to loose life because of a crime. If
we execute criminals, we lose more than we gain.
Work cited
Kenneth Jost. Death penalty debates: is the capital system
working? November 19, 2010
http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresr
re2010111900
Kenneth Jost. Death penalty controversies: Should states impose
moratoriums on executions? September 23, 2005.
http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresr
re2005092300
Robert Kiener. Will opponents of capital punishment continue
to gain ground? 7 July 2015
http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqr_ht
_death_penalty_2015
Paternoster, Raymond, Robert Brame, Sarah Bacon, and Stephen
B. Bright. The Death Penalty: America's Experience with
Capital Punishment. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Print.
Stinson, Philip. "Pesach N. Rubenstein Cheats the Hangman: a
Case Study of Punishment and the Death Penalty at Brooklyn's
Raymond Street Jail." The Prison Journal. 90.1 (2010): 24-47.
Print