This is Tonya's E306 class. We are here to present our sides of the capital punishment issue. From left to right we are Jon, Frankie, Dustin, Jessica, Jana, Leslie, Edward, Abel. Feel free to click on our face to see some personal thoughts and feels toward capital punishment. Just for fun, EMail one of us with your opinion: FOR or AGAINST.

Background/Intro

Each year there are about 250 people added to death row and 35 executed.The death penalty is the harshest form of punishment enforced in the United Sates today. Once a jury has convicted a criminal offense they go to the second part of the trial, the punishment phase. If the jury recommends the death penalty and the judge agrees then the criminal will face some form of execution, lethal injection is the most common form used today. There was a period from 1972 to 1976 that capital punishment was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Their reason for this decision was that the death penalty was cruel and unusual punishment under the eighth amendment. The decision was reversed when new methods of execution were introduced.


Capital punishment is a difficult issue and there are as many different opinions as there are people. In our project, both sides have been presented and argued with focus on several topics as listed below. This page was constructed to show the different opinions held by the members of our group. There is plenty of useful information within our work. We hope you find it helpful and informative.

  1. Deterrence
  2. Hard to kill a wrongly convicted criminal
  3. Incapacitation
  4. Lex Talionis (a life for a life)
  5. More humane than life imprisonment
  6. More economical than life sentence
  7. Maximum public safety
  8. Should be enforced in a more timely fashion

  1. Chance for convicted to "pay-back" society
  2. Cruel and unusual punishment (violation of the 8th amendment)
  3. Doesn't deter crime
  4. Less expensive than execution
  5. Moral argument
  6. Violates human dignity/rights
  7. Possibility of innocent death

Description of papers written by us.


Here is a news group dedicated to the death-penalty. Warning: May be lengthy to view!