According to ProCon.Org

Top 10 Pros and ConsShould the death penalty be allowed?

The PRO and CON statements below give a five minute introduction to the death penalty debate.(Read more information about our one star to five star Theoretical Credibility System)

1. Morality2. Constitutionality3. Deterrence4. Retribution5. Irrevocable Mistakes

6. Cost of Death vs. Life in Prison7. Race8. Income Level9. Attorney Quality10. Physicians at Execution

PRO Death Penalty CON Death Penalty

1. Morality

PRO: "The crimes of rape, torture, treason, kidnapping, murder, larceny, and perjury pivot on a moral code that escapes apodictic [indisputably true] proof by expert testimony or otherwise. But communities would plunge into anarchy if they could not act on moral assumptions less certain than that the sun will rise in the east and set in the west. Abolitionists may contend that the death penalty is inherently immoral because governments should never take human life, no matter what the provocation. But that is an article of faith, not of fact. The death penalty honors human dignity by treating the defendant as a free moral actor able to control his own destiny for good or for ill; it does not treat him as an animal with no moral sense."

Bruce Fein, JD Constitutional Lawyer and General Counsel to the

Center for Law and Accountability"Individual Rights and Responsibility - The Death

Penalty, But Sparingly," www.aba.orgJune 17, 2008

CON: "Ultimately, the moral question surrounding capital punishment in America has less to do with whether those convicted of violent crime deserve to die than with whether state and federal governments deserve to kill those whom it has imprisoned. The legacy of racial apartheid, racial bias, and ethnic discrimination is unavoidably evident in the administration of capital punishment in America. Death sentences are imposed in a criminal justice system that treats you better if you are rich and guilty than if you are poor and innocent. This is an immoral condition that makes rejecting the death penalty on moral grounds not only defensible but necessary for those who refuse to accept unequal or unjust administration of punishment."

Bryan Stevenson, JD Professor of Law at New York University School

of Law"Close to Death: Reflections on Race and Capital Punishment in America," from Debating the Death

Penalty: Should America Have Capital Punishment? The Experts on Both Sides Make

Their Best Case2004

2. Constitutionality

PRO: "Simply because an execution method may result in pain, either by accident or as an inescapable consequence of death, does not

CON: "Death is... an unusually severe punishment, unusual in its pain, in its finality, and in its enormity... The fatal constitutional infirmity in

establish the sort of 'objectively intolerable risk of harm' [quoting the opinion of the Court from Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U. S. 825, 842, 846 (1994)] that qualifies as cruel and unusual... Kentucky has adopted a method of execution believed to be the most humane available, one it shares with 35 other States... Kentucky's decision to adhere to its protocol cannot be viewed as probative of the wanton infliction of pain under the Eighth Amendment... Throughout our history, whenever a method of execution has been challenged in this Court as cruel and unusual, the Court has rejected the challenge. Our society has nonetheless steadily moved to more humane methods of carrying out capital punishment."

Baze v. Rees (529 KB) US Supreme Court, in a decision written by Chief

Justice John G. RobertsApr. 16, 2008

the punishment of death is that it treats 'members of the human race as nonhumans, as objects to be toyed with and discarded. [It is] thus inconsistent with the fundamental premise of the Clause that even the vilest criminal remains a human being possessed of common human dignity.' [quoting himself from Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 257 (1972)] As such it is a penalty that 'subjects the individual to a fate forbidden by the principle of civilized treatment guaranteed by the [Clause].' [quoting C.J. Warren from Trop v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 86, 101 (1958)] I therefore would hold, on that ground alone, that death is today a cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the Clause... I would set aside the death sentences imposed... as violative of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments."

William J. Brennan, JD Justice of the US Supreme Court

Dissenting opinion in Gregg v. Georgia (347 KB)

July 2, 1976

3. Deterrence

PRO: "Common sense, lately bolstered by statistics, tells us that the death penalty will deter murder... People fear nothing more than death. Therefore, nothing will deter a criminal more than the fear of death... life in prison is less feared. Murderers clearly prefer it to execution -- otherwise, they would not try to be sentenced to life in prison instead of death... Therefore, a life sentence must be less deterrent than a death sentence. And we must execute murderers as long as it is merely possible that their execution protects citizens from future murder."

Ernest Van Den Haag, PhD Late Professor of Jurisprudence at Fordham

University"For the Death Penalty," New York Times

Oct. 17, 1983

CON: "[T]here is no credible evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than long terms of imprisonment. States that have death penalty laws do not have lower crime rates or murder rates than states without such laws. And states that have abolished capital punishment show no significant changes in either crime or murder rates. The death penalty has no deterrent effect. Claims that each execution deters a certain number of murders have been thoroughly discredited by social science research."

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) "The Death Penalty: Questions and Answers,"

ACLU.orgApr. 9, 2007

4. Retribution

PRO: "Society is justly ordered when each person receives what is due to him. Crime disturbs this just order, for the criminal takes from people their lives, peace, liberties, and worldly goods in order to give himself undeserved benefits. Deserved punishment protects society morally by restoring this just order, making the wrongdoer pay a price equivalent to the harm he has done. This is

CON: "Retribution is just another word for revenge, and the desire for revenge is one of the lowest human emotions — perhaps sometimes understandable, but not really a rational response to a critical situation. To kill the person who has killed someone close to you is simply to continue the cycle of violence which ultimately destroys the avenger as well as the offender. That this

retribution, not to be confused with revenge, which is guided by a different motive. In retribution the spur is the virtue of indignation, which answers injury with injury for public good... Retribution is the primary purpose of just punishment as such... [R]ehabilitation, protection, and deterrence have a lesser status in punishment than retribution."

J. Budziszewski, PhD Professor of Government and Philosophy at the

University of Texas at Austin"Capital Punishment: The Case for Justice,"

OrthodoxyToday.orgAug./Sep. 2004

execution somehow give 'closure' to a tragedy is a myth. Expressing one’s violence simply reinforces the desire to express it. Just as expressing anger simply makes us more angry. It does not drain away. It contaminates the otherwise good will which any human being needs to progress in love and understanding."

Raymond A. Schroth, SJ Jesuit Priest and Community Professor of the

Humanities at St. Peter's CollegeEmail to ProCon.org

Sep. 5, 2008

5. Irrevocable Mistakes

PRO: "...No system of justice can produce results which are 100% certain all the time. Mistakes will be made in any system which relies upon human testimony for proof. We should be vigilant to uncover and avoid such mistakes. Our system of justice rightfully demands a higher standard for death penalty cases. However, the risk of making a mistake with the extraordinary due process applied in death penalty cases is very small, and there is no credible evidence to show that any innocent persons have been executed at least since the death penalty was reactivated in 1976... The inevitability of a mistake should not serve as grounds to eliminate the death penalty any more than the risk of having a fatal wreck should make automobiles illegal..."

Steven D. Stewart, JD Prosecuting Attorney for Clark County Indiana

Message on the Clark County Prosecutor website accessed

Aug. 6, 2008

CON: "...Since the reinstatement of the modern death penalty, 87 people have been freed from death row because they were later proven innocent. That is a demonstrated error rate of 1 innocent person for every 7 persons executed. When the consequences are life and death, we need to demand the same standard for our system of justice as we would for our airlines... It is a central pillar of our criminal justice system that it is better that many guilty people go free than that one innocent should suffer... Let us reflect to ensure that we are being just. Let us pause to be certain we do not kill a single innocent person. This is really not too much to ask for a civilized society."

Russ Feingold, JD US Senator (D-WI)

introducing the "National Death Penalty Moratorium Act of 2000"

April 26, 2000

6. Cost of Death vs. Life in Prison

PRO: "Many opponents present, as fact, that the cost of the death penalty is so expensive (at least $2 million per case?), that we must choose life without parole ('LWOP') at a cost of $1 million for 50 years. Predictably, these pronouncements may be entirely false. JFA [Justice for All] estimates that LWOP cases will cost $1.2 million-$3.6 million more than equivalent death penalty cases. There is no question that the up front costs of the

CON: "In the course of my work, I believe I have reviewed every state and federal study of the costs of the death penalty in the past 25 years. One element is common to all of these studies: They all concluded that the cost of the death penalty amounts to a net expense to the state and the taxpayers. Or to put it differently,the death penalty is clearly more expensive than a system handling similar cases with a lesser punishment.

death penalty are significantly higher than for equivalent LWOP cases. There also appears to be no question that, over time, equivalent LWOP cases are much more expensive... than death penalty cases. Opponents ludicrously claim that the death penalty costs, over time, 3-10 times more than LWOP."

Dudley Sharp Director of Death Penalty Resources at Justice for

All"Death Penalty and Sentencing Information,"

Justice for All websiteOct. 1, 1997

[It] combines the costliest parts of both punishments: lengthy and complicated death penalty trials, followed by incarceration for life... Everything that is needed for an ordinary trial is needed for a death penalty case, only more so:• More pre-trial time...• More experts...• Twice as many attorneys...• Two trials instead of one will be conducted: one for guilt and one for punishment.• And then will come a series of appeals during which the inmates are held in the high security of death row."

Richard C. Dieter, MS, JD Executive Director of the Death Penalty

Information CenterTestimony to the Judiciary Committee of the

Colorado State House of Representatives regarding "House Bill 1094 - Costs of the Death

Penalty and Related Issues"Feb. 7, 2007

7. Race

PRO: "[T]he fact that blacks and Hispanics are charged with capital crimes out of proportion to their numbers in the general population may simply mean that blacks and Hispanics commit capital crimes out of proportion to their numbers. Capital criminals don’t look like America... No one is surprised to find more men than women in this class. Nor is it a shock to find that this group contains more twenty-year-olds than septuagenarians. And if — as the left tirelessly maintains — poverty breeds crime, and if — as it tiresomely maintains — the poor are disproportionately minority, then it must follow — as the left entirely denies — that minorities will be 'overrepresented' among criminals."

Roger Clegg, JD General Counsel at the Center for Equal

Opportunity"The Color of Death: Does the Death Penalty

Discriminate?,” National Review OnlineJune 11, 2001

CON: "Despite the fact that African Americans make up only 13 percent of the nation’s population, almost 50 percent of those currently on the federal death row are African American. And even though only three people have been executed under the federal death penalty in the modern era, two of them have been racial minorities. Furthermore, all six of the next scheduled executions are African Americans. The U.S. Department of Justice’s own figures reveal that between 2001 and 2006, 48 percent of defendants in federal cases in which the death penalty was sought were African Americans… the biggest argument against the death penalty is that it is handed out in a biased, racially disparate manner."

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

"NAACP Remains Steadfast in Ending Death Penalty & Fighting Injustice in America's Justice

System,” NAACP websiteJune 28, 2007

8. Income Level

PRO: "The next urban legend is that of the threadbare but plucky public defender fighting against all odds against a team of sleek, heavily-funded prosecutors with limitless resources. The

CON: "Who pays the ultimate penalty for crimes? The poor. Who gets the death penalty? The poor. After all the rhetoric that goes on in legislative assemblies, in the end, when the net is cast out, it

reality in the 21st century is startlingly different... the past few decades have seen the establishment of public defender systems that in many cases rival some of the best lawyers retained privately... Many giant silk-stocking law firms in large cities across America not only provide pro-bono counsel in capital cases, but also offer partnerships to lawyers whose sole job is to promote indigent capital defense."

Joshua Marquis, JD District Attorney of Clatsop County, Oregon

"The Myth of Innocence,” Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

Mar. 31, 2005

is the poor who are selected to die in this country. And why do poor people get the death penalty? It has everything to do with the kind of defense they get. Money gets you good defense. That's why you'll never see an O.J. Simpson on death row. As the saying goes: 'Capital punishment means them without the capital get the punishment.'"

Helen Prejean, MA Anti-death penalty activist and author of Dead

Man Walking"Would Jesus Pull the Switch?,” Salt of the Earth

1997

9. Attorney Quality

PRO: "Defense attorneys... routinely file all manner of motions and objections to protect their clients from conviction. Attorneys know their trial tactics will be thoroughly scrutinized on appeal, so every effort is made to avoid error, ensuring yet another level of protection for the defendant. They [death penalty opponents]... have painted a picture of incompetent defense lawyers, sleeping throughout the trial, or innocent men being executed. Their accusations receive wide media coverage, resulting in a near-daily onslaught on the death penalty. Yet, through all the hysteria, jurors continue to perform their responsibilities and return death sentences."

California District Attorneys Association (CDAA)

"Prosecutors' Perspective on California's Death Penalty,” www.cdaa.org

Mar. 2003

CON: "[A] shocking two out of three death penalty convictions have been overturned on appeal because of police and prosecutorial misconduct, as well as serious errors by incompetent court-appointed defense attorneys with little experience in trying capital cases. How can we contend that we provide equal justice under the law when we do not provide adequate representation to the poor in cases where a life hangs in the balance? We, the Congress, must bear our share of responsibility for this deplorable situation. In short, while others, like Governor Ryan in Illinois, have recognized the flaws in the death penalty, the Congress still just doesn't get it. This system is broken."

John Conyers, Jr., JD US Congressman (D-MI)

Hearing for the Innocence Protection Act of 2000 before the Subcommittee on Crime of the

Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives

June 20, 2000

10. Physicians at Executions

PRO: "Accepting capital punishment in principle means accepting it in practice, whether by the hand of a physician or anyone else... If one finds the practice too brutal, one must either reject it in principle or seek to mitigate its brutality. If one chooses the latter option, then the participation of physicians seems more humane than delegating the deed to prison wardens, for by condoning the participation of untrained people who could inflict needless suffering that we physicians might have prevented, we are just as responsible as if we had

CON: "The American Medical Association's policy is clear and unambiguous... requiring physicians to participate in executions violates their oath to protect lives and erodes public confidence in the medical profession. A physician is a member of a profession dedicated to preserving life... The use of a physician's clinical skill and judgment for purposes other than promoting an individual's health and welfare undermines a basic ethical foundation of medicine — first, do no harm. The guidelines in the AMA Code of Medical Ethics

inflicted the suffering ourselves. The AMA [American Medical Association] position should be changed either to permit physician participation or to advocate the abolition of capital punishment. The hypocritical attitude of 'My hands are clean — let the spectacle proceed' only leads to needless human suffering."

Bruce E. Ellerin, MD, JD Doctor of Oncology Radiation at Sierra

Providence Health NetworkResponse letter to the New England Journal of Medicine regarding an article titled "When Law

and Ethics Collide — Why Physicians Participate in Executions," by Atul Gawande, MD

July 6, 2006

address physician participation in executions involving lethal injection. The ethical opinion explicitly prohibits selecting injection sites for executions by lethal injection, starting intravenous lines, prescribing, administering, or supervising the use of lethal drugs, monitoring vital signs, on site or remotely, and declaring death."

American Medical Association (AMA) "AMA: Physician Participation in Lethal Injection Violates Medical Ethics," press release from the

AMA website July 17, 2006

PRO Death Penalty CON Death Penalty

Did You Know? 

1. 32 states allow the death penalty. On May 2, 2013, Maryland became the latest state to outlaw capital punishment, joining 17 other states and the District of Columbia.

2. There are at least 41 federal capital crimes in the US (as of Dec. 2010) including genocide, espionage, and treason as well as numerous forms of murder.

3. 1,188 people were executed in the US from Jan. 1, 1977 to Dec. 31, 2009. Of those, 1,016 (85%) were executed by lethal injection, 156 (13.1%) by electrocution, 11 (0.9%) in the gas chamber, three (0.3%) by hanging, and two (0.2%) by firing squad.

4. 46 death sentences were handed down in 2010, the lowest number of death sentences since the death penalty was reinstated in the US in 1976. The previous record for lowest number of executions was 52 in 2009. Texas led all states with 17 executions in 2010.

5. In 2010, at least 527 executions were carried out by at least 23 countries, not including the thousands of executions carried out by China. Death penalty statistics in China are considered state secrets. Iran executed over 252 people, North Korea executed over 60, and the US executed 46.

6. On Jan. 4, 1903, Thomas Edison electrocuted Topsy the Elephant with 6,000 volts of electricity in front of 1,500 spectators at Luna Park Zoo on Coney Island. Edison filmed the execution [Warning: graphic and potentially emotionally jarring material in the video] to demonstrate the

dangers of alternating current (AC), which threatened the profitability of his direct current (DC) method of electricity distribution.

7. A lethal injection is normally a combination of three drugs: First, sodium thiopental as anesthesia; second, pancuronium bromide as paralyzer; and third, potassium chloride to induce cardiac arrest. 16 states use lethal injection as the sole method of execution. On Jan. 21, 2011, the sole US maker of sodium thiopental announced it would stop manufacturing the drug.

8. Ohio performed the first execution with a one-drug intravenous lethal injection on Dec. 8, 2009.

9. Nebraska was the last state to use electrocution as its sole method of execution. In the Feb. 8, 2008 Nebraska v. Mata (393KB) decision, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled electrocution as unconstitutional.

10. Arizona, California, Missouri, and Wyoming are the only four states which authorize the use of the gas chamber as a method of execution (as of Sep. 12, 2011). Arizona allows the gas chamber if an inmate was sentenced before the state switched to lethal injection and the inmate chooses the gas chamber. Wyoming retains the gas chamber option if lethal injection is ever found unconstitutional.

11. Lethal gas is produced by dropping either potassium cyanide or sodium cyanide into a pan of hydrochloric acid.

12. New Hampshire and Washington are the only states which authorize hanging as a method of execution (as of Sep. 12, 2011). New Hampshire authorizes hanging as a method of execution if lethal injection cannot be used.

13. Virginia executed more people between 1608-2002 than any other state, with 1,361 total executions. New York was second (1,130), followed by Pennsylvania (1,043), Texas (1,031), and Georgia (1,031).

14. Oklahoma and Utah authorize shooting by a firing squad as a method to administer capital punishment (as of Sep. 12, 2011). Oklahoma allows the use of firing squads if lethal injections and electrocutions are found unconstitutional. Utah outlawed the practice on May 3, 2004, but allows it for inmates who select the method and were on death row before it was outlawed.

15. The last US execution by firing squad took place on June 18, 2010 in Utah. Convicted killer Ronnie Lee Gardner was the third person in 33 years to be executed by firing squad, with all three executions taking place in Utah (as of July 8, 2010). Gardner was able to choose the firing squad because he was grandfathered in after Utah outlawed firing squads on May 3, 2004.

16. The top five US executions by crime between 1608 and 2002 are murder (12,111 - 81.8%), rape (988 - 6.7%), slave revolt (277 - 1.9%), house break-in burglary (251 - 1.7%), and robbery (158 - 1.1%).

17. The first official American execution occured in 1608 when Captain George Kendall of the Jamestown colony was executed by firing squad for the crime of mutiny.

18. The first US state to outlaw the death penalty for all crimes, including treason, was Rhode Island, in 1852. Wisconsin was the second state to do so in 1853.

19. The American Medical Association passed a resolution in June of 1980 saying physicians should not participate in executions.

20. California executed its oldest death row inmate, Clarence Ray Allen, minutes after his 76th birthday on Jan. 17, 2006. The convicted murderer was blind and wheelchair-bound at the time of his execution and was the last person to be executed in California (as of Sep. 12, 2011).

21. The US Supreme Court ruled the execution of mentally retarded offenders unconstitutional in a 6-3 to vote in Atkins v. Virginia on June 20, 2002.

22. The top five occupations of Americans executed between 1608-2002 were: slave (1,748), laborer (585), farmhand (369), farmer (347), and farm laborer (168).

23. Between 1608-2002, 143 US prisoners were executed by gunfire, 66 were burned to death, 15 were hung in chains until death, 14 were bludgeoned/broke on wheel, and one was pressed to death between two heavy objects.

24. At least 17,833 people are under sentence of death worldwide (as of Dec. 31, 2010).

FROM ANTIDEATHPENALTY.ORG:

These statistics are from the Bureau of Justice and are the official United States statistics as compiled by the government. I've updated them in January, 2011 using the Bureau's latest numbers which are compiled from data for 2009. Some of the numbers in this table are for the year 2010 and come from other sources (will be marked by an asterisk and note).

Executions so far this year (2011) 27

Executions last year (2010) 46

Executions in 2009 52

Executions in 2008 37

Executions in 2007 42

Executions in 2006 53

Number of states with Death PenaltyAlabamaArizona

35*

ArkansasCalifornia ColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaIdahoIllinoisIndianaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMarylandMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNorth CarolinaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaSouth Carolina South DakotaTennesseeTexas UtahVirginiaWashingtonWyoming

*35 states plus the Federal Government and the Military

Number of states without Death Penalty and year they repealed it

Alaska --------------1957Hawaii---------------1948Iowa -----------------1965Maine----------------1887Massachusetts-----1984Michigan-------------1846Minnesota-----------1911New Jersey----------2007New Mexico---------2009New York------------2007 North Dakota-------1973Rhode Island-------1984Vermont-------------1964Washington, D.C.--1981 West Virginia-------1965Wisconsin-----------1853

15*

*15 plus Washington, D.C. which is a district, not a state.

Michigan was the 1st state to end its Death Penalty, in 1846. Perhaps this was in response to its neighbor, Canada, which had public executions.

Wisconsin (my homestate!) was the 2nd state to end its Death Penalty, in 1853. Wisconsin had only executed one person, a farmer who drowned his wife. His hanging became a public spectacle and may have led to the end of the Death Penalty.

Approx. number of Death Row inmates in US (about 40 less than in 2009)

*this number was calculated for the year 2010 by the Death Penalty Information Center

3,260*

Includes 61 women on Death Row.

*this number was calculated for the year 2010 by the Death Penalty Information Center

Average time spent on Death Row before being executed: 14 years*

*this number was calculated for the year 2010 by the Death Penalty Information Center

Approx. number of Death Row inmates per state*

*the following numbers were calculated for the year 2010 by the Death Penalty Information Center

If you aren't familiar with the state abbreviations used below, you can check this list on the U.S. Postal Service website.

AL200

KY

35

OK 85

AZ135

LA

85

OR 30

AR 40

MD 5 PA 220

CA695

MS

70

SC 60

CO 3MO

60

SD 3

CT 10

MT 2 TN 90

DE 20

NE

10

TX 335

FL400

NH 1 UT 10

GA105

NV

80

VA 15

ID 15

WA 10

IL 15

NM*

2 WY 1

IN 15

NY 1

Feds 60

KS 10

NC

170

Military 8

OH

170

States with the biggest population of Death Row

inmates: California (695), Florida (400) and Texas (335).

States with the fewest Death Row inmates: Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Utah, Virginia, and Washington state have fewer than 20 inmates (but more than 5) on Death Row.

The U.S. Military has 8 people awaiting death. Colorado, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota have 5 or fewer people on Death Row.

New Hampshire and Wyoming have only 1 lonely person each on their Death Rows.

2 states have recently ended executions: New Jersey (in 2007) and New Mexico (in 2009). New Jersey made their new law retroactive, meaning all 8 inmates on Death Row had their sentences changed to life in prison. New Mexico didn't, so the state has 2 inmates on Death Row still awaiting execution.

Location of Federal and Military Death Rows:Federal Death Row is at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, IN for men and at the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, TX for women. They are operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Military Death Row is at Fort Leavenworth, KS for men (called the U.S. Discliplinary Barracks and operated by the Army) and at Miramar in San Diego, CA for women (called the Naval Consolidated Brig and operated by the Navy).

Just about every year Texas tops the list as the state with the most executions, with 17 in 2010. This is twice as many as the next state, Ohio with 8 executions.*

In 2010, 4 states with death penalty laws did not execute anyone: Indiana, Missouri, South Carolina and Tennessee.*

*these numbers were calculated for the year 2010 by the Death Penalty Information Center

Executions were re-instated by the Supreme Court after a break in 1976. The court was concerned about the various state DP laws being unconstituional in regard to cruel and unusual punishment and due process of law.

- In the 1980s, about 20 Death Row inmates were executed each year.

- In the 1990s, this number jumped dramatically from about 30 in the early 90s, to about 50 in the mid-90s and to a high of almost 100 executions in 1999.

- The number of executions per year is now on the decline with 46 executions in 2010.

- In total, the United States has executed 1,234 prisoners since the 1976 re-instatement (includes 2010 executions).

Texas is quick to execute. Texas has executed 40 per cent of its Death Row while California has only executed 1 per cent of its Death Row population so far.

The U.N. (United Nations) opposes the Death Penalty. The U.S. is in violation of U.N. regulations by having the Death Penalty.

The U.S. is the only NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) country with the Death Penalty.

On average per year, there are:20,000 murders. 15,000 arrests for murder (not all crimes are solved).14,000 murder cases taken to court (not all cases have strong enough evidence). 10,000 murder convictions. 3,000 persons eligible for the DP (usually 1st degree murder with aggravating circumstances). 115 death sentences handed down. 45 executions.This makes the Death Penalty arbitrary which means not applied evenly or fairly. Not everyone eligible for the Death Penalty is being sentenced to death and executed. Yet some are.

The number of death sentences handed out each year is declining! In the 1990s, about 300 death sentences were handed down each year. By 2000, it had declined to 225. In 2010, only 114 death sentences were handed out.*

*these numbers were calculated for the year 2010 by the Death Penalty Information Center

Methods of execution: In 2010, lethal injection was used in all but 2 of the executions. 1 death in Virginia was by electrocution. 1 death in Utah was by firing squad. These 2 inmates had the option of lethal injection, but chose the more gruesome, outdated methods.

Racial makeup: In 2009, about 55 per cent of the prisoners on Death Row were white and about 40 per cent were black. 5 per cent were listed as other, unspecified ethnicities.

The following worldwide statistics are from Amnesty International for the year 2009.

Approx. number of people executed worldwide in 2009

over 2,000

Approx. number of people in the world sentenced to death in 2009

over 2,000

Approx. number of countries with the Death Penalty

60

Approx. number of countries that performed executions in 2009

20

5 countries with the most executions:

China thousands*

Iran 390

Iraq 120

Saudi Arabia 70

United States 50

*China refuses to release any execution numbers so this is a rough estimate.

Methods of execution worldwide:lethal injection (U.S. and China), public beheading (Saudia Arabia), firing squad (Iran, U.S. and other countries), hanging (Singapore and other countries), stoning (Afghanistan and other countries), electric chair (U.S.)

Countries that carried out executions in 2009: Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordon, Kuwait, Libya, North Korea, Malaysia, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United States, Vietnam and Yemen

Country you are most likely to be executed in(most executions per population):Singapore. Death sentences are handed out for minor crimes such as selling drugs.

Countries that ended the Death Penalty in 2009:Burundi and Togo, both in Africa.

Countries WITHOUT the Death Penalty:-Canada, Mexico, most of Europe (only little-known Belarus and Tajikistan still have the Death Penalty and Tajikistan has had a moratorium in place since 2004), much of Latin America, and Australia and New Zealand. Russia has issued a moratorium on executions, in place since 1999.

Full list of countries WITHOUT the Death Penalty: Albania, Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belguim, Bhutan, Bosnia-Herzogovina, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote D'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia (near Russia), Germany, Greece, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Holy See (where the Pope lives), Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niue, Norway, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Serbia and Kosovo, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Timor-Leste, Togo, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu and Venezuela

FROM BUZZLE.COM:

"I support the death penalty because I believe, if administered swiftly and justly, capital punishment is a deterrent against future violence and will save other innocent lives." - George W. Bush

"Courts must remember not just rights of the criminal but also the victims." - Judge M L Tahaliyani

These pro death penalty quotes - one coming from the President of the United States and the other from a judge in the Indian Special Court, speak volumes about its necessity to ensure that a crime-free society prevails. One of the most controversial issues that we have ever witnessed, it has left the world divided. On one side, we have people armed with pro death penalty arguments who believe that it is necessary, and on the other, we have people who cite numerous problems with this practice in a bid to highlight that it is against humanity and should be abolished.

Death Penalty - Capital Punishment

Statistics suggest that around 80 percent of the total death sentences come from the Asian countries - with China leading the pack with highest execution rate in the world. Even though, somewhere around

90 percent of the countries have abolished death penalty, it still continues to be one of the most controversial topics in the world - may be because major powers of the world continue to sentence criminals to death or may be because human rights organization are putting in all their efforts to make sure that their arguments against this practice are heard. Irrespective of what the reason is, the fact is that capital punishment is by far the most heated topic of debate in the world today.

Arguments in Favor of Death Penalty

Is death penalty really a necessity for crime-free society? Does this form of punishment really serve the purpose? If its pros and cons are weighed, do its pros have an edge over its cons? If the arguments put forth by people in its support are to be believed, it's surely necessary to do away with some of the most heinous crimes that we often hear about.

The foremost argument put forth by the pro death penalty activists is the fact that it serves as a deterrent for other individuals. The fear of death affects everybody, and criminals are no exception. If they realize that committing some serious crime will take them to the gallows, they are bound to think twice before committing any such crime. This argument is supported by statistics which reveal that the crime rate in countries wherein this form of punishment still exists is far less as compared to those countries wherein it has been abolished.

With criminal acts - such as murder, rape, homicide etc., becoming more and more frequent in the society, only death penalty can ensure justice for the victims. In most of the cases of murder, rape or homicides, the criminals are not first time offenders who would get deterred by the fear of capital punishment. Those in its support also argue that a person who kills someone doesn't have the right to live.

Is it justified that a person who has committed some serious crime lives in a prison with all the basic amenities at the cost of taxpayers money? The cost incurred on housing inmates who are sentencing life imprisonment goes into millions, and awarding death penalty to these criminals cannot just save this money but also make sure that it is used for a better purpose.

If individuals involved in heinous crimes such as murder or homicides are not awarded death sentence, people are bound to lose faith in the judicial system. This will also add to layman's belief that the judicial system is more sympathetic towards a criminal than towards the victim or society.

The most prominent of the arguments is the fact that it ensures that we are safe from criminals. There have been numerous instances of criminals committing more serious crimes when they are out on parole. More importantly, life term doesn't ensure that the said criminal will never commit any such crime - something which death penalty does, in a harder way though.

Even though these arguments sound pretty convincing, we also need to take the arguments against this practice into consideration when deciding whether it is a right form of punishment or not. With both sides resorting to arguments and counterarguments, it is very difficult to come to a consensus on this issue, which only means that the debate is only going to intensify with time.

Death is not only an unusually severe punishment, unusual in its pain, in its finality and in its enormity, but it serves no penal purpose more effectively than a less severe punishment; therefore the principle inherent in the clause that prohibits pointless infliction of excessive punishment when less severe punishment can adequately achieve the same purposes invalidates the punishment. ~ WILLIAM J. BRENNAN (American Jurist)

The term death penalty or capital punishment has come under lot of debate in recent times. People support it but they don't understand the hidden facts behind this controversial agenda. People think that capital punishment ensures that the wrong are getting punished and justice is being served. However, most of us forget that in this obsession of serving justice many innocent people are also executed. There are various reasons why legal execution is wrong and this piece of information sheds light on all those various reasons.

Death penalty has been in practice since centuries and continues to remain so. Although there are many countries who have abolished this practice, there are at least 20 countries who still practice the concept of capital punishment on a large basis. There are at least 8 different ways of killing a person after he/she has been awarded the death penalty; firing squad, lethal injection, gas chamber, electrocution, hanging, stoning to death and shooting. All of these methods whether they serve justice or not are inhuman and should be stopped.

Reasons to be Against Death Penalty

Is death penalty a cruel and unusual punishment? I would say yes. Don't think that I am ignoring the practical side and trying to be sensitive. If you'll have a close look at the reasons why legalized killing is wrong, you will start understanding this topic with a different perspective.

Racist FactorMost people all around the world think that the capital punishment is a way of minimizing the number of minorities in a particular country. For instance; African-Americans constitute 13% of the US population but more than 42% of them are waiting to be executed. With over 18,000 executions having taken place in the country only 42 were of white people. Plus almost every jury that convicts a black person are full of white people.

Killing is ExpensiveYes, killing a person is more expensive than keeping him alive his entire life in a cell. One of the biggest disadvantages of capital punishment is the long and complex process involved for such cases. If the death sentence is replaced with permanent life imprisonment, states can save more than a billion dollars every year and all this saved money can be used for the betterment of minorities.

Punishment for the PoorHiring a capable attorney in the United States is a luxury and most of them who are accused cannot hire the services of an attorney to defend themselves. There's no chance that an innocent individual will get free until and unless an experienced lawyer fights his case. As the accused comes from a poor or a middle class background even the jury go against him as poverty and lack of money is one of the biggest reasons why a man becomes a criminal.

Unfair to the InnocentSince 1973, more than 123 people on death row have been freed after they were proved innocent with evidence. The poor and the unlucky always suffer from the hands of law, it is quite natural that sometimes even the innocent are wrongly accused and convicted. Often cops or lawyers plant evidence to accuse an innocent, in order to get promotions and medals. They make false arrests and take the entire situation in a totally different direction.

People will have their own views and sides on the reasons to give up execution, so it's advised not to pass a judgment before understanding the complete case history.