This document discusses arguments for and against the death penalty. It notes that the death penalty has never been shown to deter crime and that innocent people have been sentenced to death. While some methods of execution like lethal injection are used in some states, other countries use hanging, electrocution, firing squad, gas suffocation or beheading. Internationally, some countries and human rights groups are urging the abolition of capital punishment, though some U.S. states still practice it for retribution despite the concerns about deterrence and the possibility of wrongful convictions.

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The Death Sentence Penalty
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The Death Sentence Penalty
Having to decide on a death penalty according to Barbara (2011) has been the hardest
thing to do over the past years. Looking from the historical perspective and considering various
points of view, the death penalty has never helped to deter offenders or law breakers from
committing capital crimes. In fact, it can never be said to solve the roots of the crime at all. The
death penalty has gained public attention since most of these cases do happen in the political
domain or murder. In some cases, a person can be wrongfully sentenced to death for a crime he
or she never committed. This is especially the case if the accused person is not able to prove his
or her innocence.
The death penalty is never reversible, unlike the life sentences where a person can be set
free if they are later proved innocent (McFeely 2011). The question that begs an answer is: what
to do with those who are already dead when they are proved to be innocent? As a member of the
jury, I would take time and analyze the situation of the case. In a case where there is not enough
proof of guilt, a person should never be sentenced to death. I do not at all support the death
penalty because it has never stopped offenders from participating in crimes.
There are several ways of executing the death penalty as practiced in different states.
Barbara (2011) states that some countries use lethal injection while others hang the offenders.
Yet again some countries electrocute their capital offenders, and some even subject them to the
firing squad. Other countries kill their offenders by suffocating them using gas or by beheading
them.
In the world today, some countries have abolished the death penalty, but many states in
America still largely practice it. Some U.S states have abolished the penalty because they
believe that the punishment does not deter others from repeating the same crime. These states

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still support the penalty because they believe and argue that it is a sign of sympathy to the
victims of the crime. The international human rights group is at the forefront in urging countries
and governments across the world to abolish the death penalty (McFeely, 2001).

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Barbara, M. (2011). Ethics: Theory and Contemporary Issues, Concise Edition. Boston: MA.
Wadswort. Cengage Learning.
McFeely, W. (2011). Trial and Error: Capital Punishment in U.S. History. History Matters.
Retrieved from historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5420/