Argumentative Essay: The Use Of The Death Penalty In America

The death penalty is one of the most controversial topics in America. Capital punishment is the use of death as a form of punishment for a crime. From the first death penalties in ancient China and the code of Hammurabi in the Mesopotamian times to today, Capital punishment has large integrations in our courts. As it stands now, according to “Costs of the Death Penalties Costs” from pbs.org, capital punishments cost around $1.3 million more that life in prison sentences. Capital punishment even with the last several cases in America’s short history is met with a lot of trial along with a lot of questioning as to how effective it is. The death penalty has been a part of U.S. Courts, targets minorities and poor people; and most importantly getting who commit heinous crimes but not accidentally killing an innocent person.

George Kendall, the first American execution took place in Virginia in 1608. He was accused of espionage, or spying to contain government information on another country, for Spain. He was hung for this crime. In 1612, other colonies approved the use of execution for murders and thieves. Back then, executions were usually public hanging or firing squad.

The mentally retarded or mentally ill can be exempt from the use of capital punishment. They are most likely to be tried differently due to the fact that they are addressed by

Carlos DeLuna was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, when he witnessed a man similar to his size and stature pull out a weapon he hid under a truck. When the police got to the scene, they picked him up, got witnesses to testify against him and was sentenced to death row. He was executed in 1989 but evidence didn’t spring up until 2006 say he was innocent such as conflicting witnessing statements or the fact that when the police arrived blood was spilled but DeLuna was clean except the dirt from the ground after