“Make your way to death row and speak with the tragic victims of criminality. As they prepare to make their pathetic walk to the electric chair, their hopeless cry is that society will not forgive. Capital punishment is society's final assertion that it will not forgive” (Martin Luther King, Jr.). The death penalty is a big issue that has been coming with us throughout centuries and is still a hot topic in today’s debates. To be precise, it’s been used since 1750 B.C. and what that means is that ever since that time thousands of people have been brutally killed for the crimes they have committed and yet people dare to call it justice. Humans justify themselves by calling it “justice”, however, a murder is still a murder, it cannot be …show more content…
According to The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the death penalty is cruel because it’s a holdover of the days, “when slavery, branding, and other corporal punishments were commonplace” (The case against the death penalty). We are living in a civilized society, so we don’t need to appeal to such barbaric methods. What’s more, the 8th Amendment bans cruel and unusual punishment, which we are not fulfilling. Joseph Wood was sentenced to death by a lethal injection, and although it was supposed to be a painless death, Woods “took nearly two gasping, chocking hours to die” (“Cruel and unusual”). Then there is also the case of delaying the executions. One of the worst psychological punishments ever is knowing that you are about to die but not knowing when. That was the case with Richard Glossip, he was arrested for hiring someone to kill his boss and sentenced to death by lethal injection in September. However, moments before his death, he received a stay of execution because the state had the wrong drug. Twice in September Glossip, had his last meal, and prepared for his execution, nevertheless, both times were suspended at the last minute. All that without counting that he had another execution delayed on January (McCleland). This can’t be called any other way than torture, intentionally or accidentally does not