Capital punishment is considered the utmost sentencing option in the United States. It is being put to death for committing what is called a capital offense or a drastic crime. Today, it is a debated issue In the U.S. as to whether states should allow capital punishment as an option or completely ban it. Indeed, capital punishment should be abolished in all U.S. states for many obvious reasons. Sentencing someone to death is something that should be reconsidered. Though people argue to keep capital punishment around, it has little benefits and can be considered an act of revenge. Capital punishment can be traced back as far as ancient times. The death penalty is found in the Code of Hammurabi during the time of ancient Mesopotamia which …show more content…
Many argue that most of these methods can be cruel, which is another reason as to why the death penalty should be abolished. Methods used as of 1976 were lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, hanging, and firing squad. The most commonly used method is lethal injection. Over 1200 people were executed in this fashion from 1976 to present day. Electrocution was second with over 150 executions (deathpenaltyinfo.org). The first bill that proposed the use of the lethal injection was in 1977 in Oklahoma. Legislators talked it over with the anesthesiologist department at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. They received the knowledge to proceed with this new plan and lethal injection soon after became a form of execution. Lethal injection contains three drugs: sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride. All of which combine to shut down important body functions that are necessary to survive. The first drug makes certain that the wrongdoer does not feel any pain that the second and third drug cause which is paralysis and cardiac arrest. That is, if the drugs are conducted in that order. If not, the prisoner will experience a tremendous amount of pain (deathpenalty.procon.org). As for the other forms of execution, they are extremely agonizing and cruel. The prisoner will indeed experience a torturous painful