Retribution of Crime by Capital Punishment

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is lethal injection (Gottfried 92). The inmate is first injected with sodium pentothal, a chemical that will make him/her unconscious (Gottfried 92). Next, pavulon is injected to stop the convict's breathing and paralyze his/her muscles (Gottfried 92). Potassium chloride is then used to stop the heart (Gottfried 92). Many claim that executing murderers for their crimes is morally wrong and unethical, but death by lethal injection is not painful since the criminal is already unconscious and paralyzed. Because of this, death by lethal injection should not be considered cruel and/or unusual punishment. Another method of capital punishment is the electric chair (Gottfried 102). It was first introduced in 1890 and is still used today in some states but less commonly than lethal injection since it takes multiple minutes and has seemed to be painful (Gottfried 102). Yet another way criminals can be executed under the death penalty is in a gas chamber (Gottfried 103). First, the convict ...

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of time, over four times as many murders took place without the death penalty. A conclusion that can be drawn from this is that instituting capital punishment will reduce murder rates. In "Death is the Most Effective Deterrent", Michael Davis writes, "the prospect of penalty is a factor that may help to guide a potential criminal away from this or that prohibited act" (77). In a study done by Professor Stephen K. Layson, an economist at the University of North Carolina, only thirty-eight percent of murderers get convicted and only one-tenth of a percent out of those convicted murderers are executed (van den Haag 53). He also found that just a one percent increase in the arrest rate for ...

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