DEATH PENALTY IN USA
- 1. Capital Punishment • The legal authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime. Also known as the death penalty
- 2. Statistics • Legal in 32 states • Approximately 3,108 inmates in 35 states are awaiting execution • Since 1976 when the death penalty was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court, 1,352 people have been executed (as of October 2013). • 22 juveniles between the ages of 16 and 17 were executed between 1976 and 2005. In 2005 the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to execute juveniles.
- 4. Controversies • Inhumane: Majority of countries in the U.N. don’t have the death penalty. In 2010 most executions took place in China, Iran, North Korea, Yemen, and the United States. • Possibility of error: Since 1973, 140 people have been released, 7 from death row, when new evidence shows they are not guilty. • Ineffective: FBI data shows that 14 states without capital punishment have homicide rates at or below national rates. • Arbitrary and unfair: Almost all death row inmates could not afford their own trial. Local politics and location of the crime, make it a lottery of who lives and who dies (82% of all executions take place in the South, 37% in Texas alone).
- 5. Lethal injection • The practice of killing someone using a lethal dose of certain drug administered through a needle. • U.S. has run out of raw products needed to make the drug, and European companies refuse to manufacture and sell more. • States are now relying on cocktail of different drugs that have not been tested. • Result: Botched executions.
- 6. For example… • Arizona inmate Joseph Wood takes two hours to die. • “Journalists called to witness the execution said it was hard to watch, as Wood snorted and gasped. One described it like a “fish on shore gulping for air.” • Arizona officials defended the procedure, saying that the proper protocols were followed.”
- 7. Debate with partner Explain why you are for or against each point • All killing is wrong Vs. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth • The death penalty goes against human rights Vs. So does murder • Mistakes are made and innocent people are killed Vs. No system is perfect • It provides closure for victim’s families Vs. That’s a poor reason to kill someone. • Life in prison is a better punishment Vs. Life in prison means watching TV, reading and chatting.
- 8. Debate • Is the death penalty an appropriate form of punishment?