Kelsey Heavner
Psyc 2301 – Section #04
Fall 2013

How Capital Punishment Benefits Towards Our Societies
Is capital punishment a harm to society, or is it a benefit? If I were to ask a group of people if they are for or against the death penalty sentence, I would most likely get strong assertive opinions on why or why not they believe in such a serious consequence. Some consider the death penalty inhumane, almost like the topic of abortion, many are against it, but to me, it is nothing like that. The death penalty, also known as capital punishment, is the legal process where a person is put to death by the state.
The practice of execution by a society has been occurring since the late 1600’s. In 1622, in a Virginian Colony there was a small town village man, Daniell Frank, who was hanged for such a little crime as stealing a baby calf from a neighbor friend. As we know, it takes much more than just the robbery of a baby calf to be sentenced with the death penalty.
Executions have declined as well, from a high of 98 in 1999, to just 37 in 2008; there were 46 executions in 2010, and 43 executions in 2011 and 2012. As we can tell that as time ticks, capital punishment is slowly decreasing.
In Texas, the average costs of the process is $2.3 million, this is about three times the cost imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years, so as we can tell the death penalty process is not cheap.
In the eighth amendment it says “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted,” this is where it gets difficult. When people oppose of the eight amendment the only part that stands out is no cruel or unusual punishments. But what people don’t understand is that there is no pain when you are given capital punishment. To some, the death penalty is a symbol of justice, and it is a relief towards our safety concerns by establishing closure.
Most states use a 3-drug combination for lethal injections: an anesthetic, either pentobarbital or, formerly, sodium thiopental (which is used to put to sleep), after a member of the team determines the inmate is sufficiently unconscious, he/she is then injected with pancuronium bromide, which paralyzes the entire muscle system and stops the inmate's breathing. In most cases, the inmate's consciousness is again checked, and finally potassium chloride stops his heart. In ideal circumstances, death results from anesthetic overdose and respiratory and cardiac arrest while the condemned person is unconscious.
In today’s society, we can conclude that the laws and regulations have been changed towards determining if one’s life is worth the death penalty or just a life time sentence to be incarceration. Crimes that usually result in the death penalty are capital offences. Such as criminal actions as first degree murder, first-degree kidnapping with bodily injury, treason, larceny, I could tell you a lot more but the list goes on and on… Some believe that the men and woman that violate these actions should be reliable for the