Death Penalty: Cruel Punishment or Effective Deterrent In the United States, a murder occurs every twenty-four minutes. This rate is increasing yearly. Currently there are more than 3,000 inmates on death row. Since 1977, there have been more then 624 executions. As of right now there are thirty-eight states including the U.S. military that use the death penalty. Although the majority of the United States participates in this form of punishment, it is still a controversial issue in our society.The current form of execution used in most states is lethal injection. Lethal injection must be an effective form of punishment if only twelve states do not use it. Apparently, in a recent pole, 86 percent of people agreed with the death penalty in all cases so the people believe that its right (www.infoplease.lycos.com). Besides the lethal injection, there are three other forms. The only other form in use today, is the electric chair, which is only used by three states. All of the other forms of execution: hanging, firing squad, and the gas chamber, have been replaced by the lethal injection. Presently, the state of Connecticut has seven men on death row since September of 1999. No one has been executed since 1960 though. The problems that arise from capital punishment are the financial and moral issues. The morality issue is the biggest controversy surrounding the death penalty. Many people believe that two wrongs do not make a right. This statement may be true for some, but they are not in the situation of the families of the victims. Executing the criminal might be the only way that the family would feel better about the whole situation. The church agrees with the executing criminals in only the most extreme cases such as rape, and premeditated murder. Another argument that is very controversial is the fact that people believe that the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment. The cruelty issue is up to the Supreme Court t...
