The death penalty is the act of punishing a criminal to death who has committed a crime such as first-degree murder, espionage, or treason. This process can also be called capital punishment. The death penalty law started to become a controversial topic in the early 20th century after World War 1. Opponents of the death penalty argue the inhumane, unconstitutional, and wrongly accused aspects of the death penalty. Proponents argue the financial savings, deterrent effects, and retribution aspects of the death penalty. Both arguments are well supported, educated and offer very important and valid explanations as to why their side is correct. The United States legislation on the issue differs in every state. “The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: …show more content…
There has been many claims that the death penalty should not be allowed because there is a chance that the criminal is innocent. This has been proven true by DNA tests of the prosecuted in the past. The DNA tests show that the person who was sentenced to the death penalty was actually innocent. Now we have these DNA tests that can be used to prove or disprove the accused before they are sentenced. We can now be sure that who we are executing is actually the criminal. If there is no hard evidence that can be tested, there are new laws prohibiting the death penalty as punishment if certain factors are in place. HG is a website that gives legal resource information to the public. They report some of the laws put in place to protect the defendant. They state that when a prosecutor seeks the death penalty, a process called bifurcation must occur. This means, “the portion of the trial during which the jury determines guilt or innocence will be conducted separately from the sentencing portion of the case. This provides a greater degree of fairness for the defendant” (par. 4). Several other laws like the one mentioned have been put in place as a precaution to wrongly accusing the defendant and to ensure a fair