The document discusses capital punishment, also known as the death penalty. It provides statistics on its use in the US, including that it is legal in 32 states and over 3,000 inmates are currently on death row. It also notes controversies around capital punishment, such as its inhumanity given most countries have banned it, the possibility of executing innocent people, questions around its effectiveness as a deterrent, and its arbitrary application. The document then discusses lethal injection, the most common execution method, but notes issues with obtaining drugs and the risk of botched executions. It poses debate questions on both sides of the capital punishment issue.

1. Capital Punishment
• The legal authorized killing of someone as
punishment for a crime. Also known as the death
penalty

2. Statistics
• Legal in 32 states
• Approximately 3,108 inmates in 35 states are
awaiting execution
• Since 1976 when the death penalty was reinstated
by the U.S. Supreme Court, 1,352 people have been
executed (as of October 2013).
• 22 juveniles between the ages of 16 and 17 were
executed between 1976 and 2005. In 2005 the
Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to
execute juveniles.

4. Controversies
• Inhumane: Majority of countries in the U.N. don’t have
the death penalty. In 2010 most executions took place in
China, Iran, North Korea, Yemen, and the United States.
• Possibility of error: Since 1973, 140 people have been
released, 7 from death row, when new evidence shows
they are not guilty.
• Ineffective: FBI data shows that 14 states without capital
punishment have homicide rates at or below national
rates.
• Arbitrary and unfair: Almost all death row inmates could
not afford their own trial. Local politics and location of
the crime, make it a lottery of who lives and who dies
(82% of all executions take place in the South, 37% in
Texas alone).

5. Lethal injection
• The practice of killing someone using a lethal dose
of certain drug administered through a needle.
• U.S. has run out of raw products needed to make
the drug, and European companies refuse to
manufacture and sell more.
• States are now relying on cocktail of different drugs
that have not been tested.
• Result: Botched executions.

6. For example…
• Arizona inmate Joseph
Wood takes two hours to
die.
• “Journalists called to
witness the execution
said it was hard to watch,
as Wood snorted and
gasped. One described it
like a “fish on shore
gulping for air.”
• Arizona officials
defended the procedure,
saying that the proper
protocols were followed.”

7. Debate with partner
Explain why you are for or against each point
• All killing is wrong Vs. An eye for an eye, a tooth for
a tooth
• The death penalty goes against human rights Vs. So
does murder
• Mistakes are made and innocent people are killed
Vs. No system is perfect
• It provides closure for victim’s families Vs. That’s a
poor reason to kill someone.
• Life in prison is a better punishment Vs. Life in prison
means watching TV, reading and chatting.

8. Debate
• Is the death penalty an
appropriate form of
punishment?

9. Last meal photographs