Death Penalty Persuasive Essay

Division in the idea of the United States using the death penalty has sparks several debates on whether the United States should continue to use the death penalty or ban it all together. The problems of the wrongful convicted being on death row, the supply of drugs to carry out executions, and if the death penalty violates the constitution. In the United States the death penalty has been used for centuries against criminals. During the 1800’s hanging and firing squads were used to dispense justice. In recent times, citizens wanted less cruel executions and to replace those with more pain-free options. Today the most common choice of execution for death row inmates is lethal injection ( “Use Of The Death Penalty In U.S. Near A 25-Year Low,”)

While it is true innocent people have been exonerated while on death row and some may have even been executed, new technology provides greater evidence to proof either one’s guilty or innocent ( “Wrongful Convictions Overturned in Death Penalty Cases Due to Advances in DNA Testing”). The advancement in DNA testing allows future cases and past cases to obtain justice, ensuring that the innocent will not have to worry of wrongful convictions and victims families can gain closure. There are other factors that can tie into wrongful convictions these are the jurys, courts, and police. Bias based on race or religion does occur, prosecutors have been found to sometimes target individuals using the death penalty as a trophy to show off (“Wrongfully Convicted Louisiana Man Asks Justice Department to Investigate New Orleans Prosecutors”). In 2010 exonerations for black males were 71, higher than white males which were 53 (“Capital Punishment: Cruel and Unusual?”). Wrongful convictions cannot be a worry in the modern world where technology has advanced to serve justice either by exonerating an innocent man or successfully applying the death penalty to severe