Putting Capital Punishment to Death

Hanging, the firing squad, the gas chamber, the electric chair, lethal injection; these are some

present methods of the death penalty. Capital punishment has been used in America for a long time,

and has always presented conflicts. There are many groups that protest capital punishment, and there

are many groups that are for it. The controversies it presents have to do with the cost, if it is humane,

or if it is moral. With all of these problems taken into consideration, it is clear to anyone that capital

punishment is the wrong choice.

The early forms of the death penalty were not only much less humane than they are now, but

much more cruel and unusual. Hanging, one of the earliest forms, is actually still used in 3 states as

one form of capital punishment. The inmate would not get blindfolded, unlike most methods, then

they would stand on a stool or box. A noose would then be wrapped, and tightened, around their

neck. The box or stool is then kicked out from under the inmate, and onlookers watch in anticipation

while the inmate suffocates to death. In some cases, the inmate’s neck would break, instantly killing

him. (Baird 22)

Other early forms of capital punishment were the guillotine and the firing squad. Both of

these methods used blindfolds. For the guillotine, the inmate would lay down on their back under

a huge blade hanging above their neck. The executioner would then cut a rope, releasing the blade

that then slices through the inmate’s neck, decapitating him. For the firing squad, and inmate would

be led to a chair in front of a brick wall. A trained firing squad then lines up in front of the inmate.

The firing squad then fires their guns at a target on the inmate’s chest. To relieve the guilt of the

squad, some of their guns were loaded with blanks, so no one could know if they were the ones who

killed the man. The guillotine is not used anymore, but the firing squad is still used in a few states.

Anyone can see why these methods are not used as much anymore. (Baird 21)

Now to the real controversies. Most people do not realize these inhumane methods of capital punishment are still being used, but the more controversial ones are the methods everyone

knows about. One of the older current methods is he electric chair. The electric chair is not the most

controversial, even though it is the least humane of the widely used practices. The first observer of

an electric chair execution thought, “The job could have been done better with an axe.” One

execution, in 1990, took three separate two-thousand volt charges to kill Jesse Tafero. Fire, smoke,

and sparks were reported flying out of his head. (Guernsey 53)

The electric chair is also inhumane because of the things that could happen while surging.

The electrodes that are attached to the skin can reach up to one-thousand-nine-hundred degrees

fahrenheit, and have to be fastened on again if they burn through the skin while the prisoner is still

alive. The charge is so powerful, it could bring the brain to a boiling point. While the prisoner is

being executed their eyeballs can pop out of their skull, they vomit blood and saliva, lose control of

bodily functions, and have involuntary jerks and cringes. When the body is being prepared for a

coffin, it must be bent out of a contorted body into a straight body. (Guernsey 53)

A newer method of the death penalty is the gas chamber. In an execution using lethal gas,

the prisoner is restrained and sealed in an airtight chamber. When the signal is given, the executioner

opens a valve, allowing hydrochloric acid to flow