Death Penalty Essay

Submitted By hmmkay95
Words: 539
Pages: 3

Makayla Celestine
English 1302-91
Mr.Wernig
February 20, 2013
Death Penalty: The best option
Death penalty in the United States has been around for many centuries. The first methods of execution were boiling in oil, crucifixion, pulling asunder, burying alive, and sawing in half (Isenburg 35). Had any of these punishments survived public reaction would have forced and end to capital punishment long ago (Isengurg 35). That is why the death penalty has improved in the U.S by coming up with different methods for execution.
The U.S has used five different methods of execution over the years. George Kendall was the first man formally executed in the U.S by a firing squad (Head). A fire squad was one form of execution when a group of soldiers were detailed to shoot a condemned person (Head). The electric chair was another method of execution. In 1888 William Kemmler became the first person to be executed in the electric chair (Head). The next method of execution was the gas chamber. In 1924 Gee Jon was the first person executed in the United States by cyanide gas. Gas chamber executions would remain a common form of execution until the 1980s, when they were largely replaced by lethal injection (Head). Charles Brooks, Jr. was the first person to be executed by lethal injection (History). The execution took place at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas (History). In 1996, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared death by poison gas to be a form of cruel and unusual punishment (Head). “- The death penalty was cruel, but certainly not unusual.” - Tom (Head).
That is in a since true because if the death penalty was really that bad it would have been abolish by now. But instead of abolishing the death penalty they keep making adjustments by making better methods and improving it.
The death penalty is also a positive thing because if the life sentence was the only punishment available for capital offences there would be a chance that the