Dr. Phil:
As of November 2016, the death penalty is a legal form of punishment in 31 states (Death Penalty Information Center, 2017c). Of those states, 27 states actively administer the death penalty, while four states are currently under gubernatorial moratoria (Death Penalty Information Center, 2017c). The remaining 19 states do not have the death penalty as a form of punishment (Death Penalty Information Center, 2017c). There is a total of five approved methods of execution in the United States; however, lethal injection is thought to be the most humane method of execution and is the primary method used (Death Penalty Information Center, 2017b). Although the majority of executions are a result of a murder conviction, there are other non-murder related crimes; including the rape of a child, treason, aggravated kidnapping, drug trafficking, and aircraft hijacking, that state statutes allow the punishment of the death penalty to be administered(Death Penalty Information Center, 2017a).
The death penalty is a volatile ethical topic often dividing people into two different categories. Those who are in support of it often come from the viewpoint that the punishment should fit the crime, an eye for an eye mentality. While those whose viewpoint is in opposition of it often view the very act of punishment by death as synonymous with murder.
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While 34% of the population surveyed felt that the act of execution is morally wrong (Gallup, Inc., 2016). Of those surveyed, 35% of those who are in favor of the death penalty for a person convicted of murder cite their main justification as it being a punishment that fits the crime (Gallup, Inc., 2016). While 40% of those surveyed who oppose the death penalty do so because they believe it is wrong to take a life (Gallup, Inc.,