The death penalty what a very controversial subject. I personally have a very strong opinion on this matter, I personally think that we should use the death penalty a lot more than we do, instead of placing murderers, rapists, and people who commit treason in prison for life or letting them out on parol. People that commit the most heinous of crimes should receive the most heinous of consequences. Isn't that just the most fair way to deal with those offenders of the law?From 1930, the first year of which statistics are readily available from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, to 1967, 3,859 people were executed under civil jurisdiction in the United States. During this period of nearly half a century, over half (54%) of those executed were blacks, 45 percent were white, and the remaining one percent were members of other racial groups. The majority of those executed were men; 32 women were executed from 1930 to 1967. Three out of five executions during that period took place in the southern U.S. The state of Georgia had the highest number of executions during the period, totaling 366 more than nine percent of the national total. Texas followed with 297 executions; New York with 329; California with 292; and North Carolina with 263. Most executions 3,334 of 3,859 were for the crime of murder; 455 prisoners ninety percent of them black were executed for rape; 70 prisoners were executed for other offenses.During the same period, the U.S. Army executed 160 people, including 106 exections for murder, 53 for rape, and one for desertion. The U.S. Navy has executed no one since 1849. One of opponents' popular false claims is that it is the race of the victim which determines who is on death row. 82% of the murder victims in death penalty cases are white. 13% are black, a 6:1 ratio. Opponents, such as Kica Mato, executive director of NAACP, present this fact as evidence that the "system" values white lives more than black liv...
