‘Old Sparky’ is an electric chair from

Florida that is often used as the symbol for the Capitol Punishment.

February 22

2012

By: Kevin Chen

“‘What a pity Bilbo did not stab the vile creature when he had the chance!’‘Pity?’ replies Gandalf. ‘It was pity that stayed his hand. Pity and mercy: Not to strike

without need.’Frodo answers that he does not feel any pity for Gollum: ‘He deserves death.’‘Deserves death!’ Gandalf responds. ‘I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death.

And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends.’”

—J. R. R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings

Since 1930, more than four-thousand five-hundred people have been executed in United

States (Gershman 7). The capital punishment is a controversy problem that has been discussed

amongst the people every day; these executions were first recorded in the year 1608 in Virginia.

The death penalty, an ongoing debate, is an acceptable punishment, in which criminals are given

a chance to a quicker and immediate death; however, there are people with opposing views who

believe the capital punishment is unfair and is the same as murdering the person.

Currently, there are thirty-four states in America that still use the death penalty. The kind

of punishment they enforce(d) include the electric chair, hanging, lethal injection, firing squad,

and the gas chamber. However, there are a few of them that are now not used, because they can

cause a greater amount of pain or sometimes a danger to others before the criminal is actually

killed. One example of this is the gas chamber; the start of the use of gas chambers was put in

place after World War I. The procedure of this punishment has the criminal strapped onto a

chair, and then hydrogen cyanide gas is pumped into the chamber, this gas cuts off the oxygen

that travels to the victim’s brain; though the victims are previously instructed to take deep

breaths when the gas is released, the victims often take about ten minutes to fully die. Not only is

this a lengthy time, there is also the precaution that if the gas chamber was not sealed tight

enough, the poisonous air would leak out, and possibly kill an innocent person. This concludes to

why the gas chamber is now not accepted as a capital punishment, along with hanging.

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Many citizens argue that the death penalty is an unfair punishment in United States. They

say that it does little to stop murderers, and can oftentimes harm innocent people. Although

many proponents might argue about the quote “an eye for an eye” obviously states that the

capital punishment should be an appropriate ruling in our country, the opponents declare that this

would lead to “the world going blind”. Moreover, if the point of the death penalty is to get the

world out of the criminal’s harm path, then life imprisonment can also take the criminal out of

the society. Additionally, the sentence of death is very frequently raciest in the way that blacks

get ruled the capital punishment more than the whites.

However, there are still some who states that the death penalty is favorable in the United

States. The proponents state that executing criminals will directly help stop the criminal rate in

America; also, they declare that when the criminals that are sentenced are killed, the world is one

less a murderer than before. Adding on, the argument that the wrong person would be killed is

very slim; as a matter of fact, with the development of technology constantly evolving, the

chances of the wrong citizen being executed are also constantly decreasing. Although many

opponents state that the capital punishment is racist, there are statistics that more African-

Americans do crimes than Caucasians.

Teddy Roosevelt, a well known political figure known to many people, said “I have

always felt impatient contempt for the effort to abolish the death penalty on account of sympathy

with criminals. I am willing to listen to arguments in favor of abolishing the death penalty so far

as they are based purely on grounds of public expediency. . . . But inasmuch as, without

hesitation, in the performance of duty, I have again and again sent good and gallant and upright

men to die, it seems to me the height of a folly both mischievous and mawkish to contend that

criminals who have deserved death should nevertheless be allowed to shirk it.” This quote

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explained means that Roosevelt, although will take time to listen to the criminals, still believes in

the use of capital punishment.

One ruling that involved the death penalty is Gregg v. Georgia in 1976. In this case, Troy

Gregg and Floyd Allen planned to hitchhike from Florida to North Carolina Sadly, a driver

named Fred Simmons, and a passenger named Bob Moore, both drunk, accepted the two hitch-

hikers. As they were driving to North Carolina, the driver’s car broke down, and after showing

the two hitchhikers the large amount of money Simmons owns, buys a new car and continues

their drive. When they decide to stop for a temporary restroom stop, Troy Gregg tells Allen that

he is going to rob the two men, which he does, shooting them twice in the head. In court, Gregg

tells the judge that what he was doing was for self-defense, the court ruled him guilty, and he

was charged with the death penalty; however, Allen, the sixteen year old, was not mentioned in

the source.

In now-a-days, 61% of the United States citizens would choose another punishment other

than the death punishment, with only 33% of people for the capital punishment. The other 6% of

people do not really care for the punishments the criminals receive. Within the 61% of the people

who disagree with the death penalty, 39% votes for a life without parole plus restitution; 9%

chooses life with a parole; and 13% chooses life without parole. The word life in these statistics

means life imprisonment.

All in all, the capital punishment is a charge that will always be debated in America.

However, the execution is a faster death for the criminal—a much easier statement someone can

receive. The death penalty is and always will be a problem that is arguable from both sides, but,

if someone tries to ultimately stop it, it is and always will be impossible.

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Bibliography/Work Cited

Chermak, Steven M., and Frankie Y. Bailey. Crimes and Trials of the Century. from the Black Sox

Scandal to the Attica Prison Riots. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2007. Print.

Gable, John Allan. "THEODORE ROOSEVELT WEB BOOK." The Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia.

Ed. Albert Bushnel Hart and Herbert Ronald Ferleger. THEODORE ROOSEVELT

ASSOCIATION. Web. 18 Feb. 2012.

Gershman, Gary P. Death Penalty on Trial: A Handbook with Cases, Laws, and Documents. Santa

Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2005. Print.

"The Gas Chamber." Capital Punishment U. Web. 19 Feb. 2012. 

 "34 States with Death Penalty / 41 Federal Capital Crimes." DeathPenalty.ProCon.org. ProCon.org,

9 Mar. 2011. Web. 20 Feb. 2012.

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