The Death Penalty About 1,188 people were executed in the United States from January 1, 1977 to December 31, 2009 ("Did You Know? - Death Penalty - ProCon.org"). Some of these people may have deserved it for the harm they have landed on innocent families and friends. Although they may seem to deserve it, there are better reasons to why they shouldn’t receive the death penalty. The death penalty should be abolished in all states because it punishes the poor, it’s cruel and unusual punishment, and it has killed innocent people. If the criminal can afford good representation, there is a great chance that he/she will not end up on death row. However, not very many of these criminals can afford this representation. Over 90% of defendants cannot afford an experienced criminal defense attorney ("Six Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty”). Many people claim that if O.J. Simpson had been poor, he would now be on death row. This only shows us that the death penalty is not a just system and if we aren’t going to change that, the death penalty should be abolished. …show more content…
In December 13, 2006, Angel Nieves Diaz was on the receiving end of a botched execution. The technicians wrongly inserted the needles that were to kill Diaz. The chemicals poured into his soft tissues instead of his veins, as intended. He then suffered while mouthing words of pain for a whole 34 minutes. The medical examiner later found 12 inch burns within his body tissues ("Six Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty”). This isn’t the only case where someone has suffered tremendously during their execution. Most of these executions are done by lethal injection since 1977, but there has also been three hangings, 156 electrocutions, 11 in the gas chamber, and two people were executed by a firing