Capital Punishment Essay - The Death Penalty :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

The Death Penalty         The death penalty is a very controversial issue.  Many people have distinct opinions about how a criminal should be disciplined. Over 80% of Americans favor the death penalty.Presently, thirty-eight states have the death penalty, but is the concept of a life story for a life the best way to castigate a criminal?  Of the thirteen statesthat do not have the death penalty, is crime more presumable to occur there than instates that have the death penalty?  (The Economist, April 1, 1995, p. 19)  Havethere been criminals wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death row?  Does thedeath penalty really scare away criminals off and make them think twice aboutcommitting a crime?  Is the death penalty fair to everyone, even the minoritiesand the poor?  How does mental illness and meanwhile come into play?               When a person is sentenced to death b y lethal injection in New Jersey,the provisions of N.J.S. 2C  11-3 say that the punishment shall be enforce bycontinuous, intravenous administration until the person is dead of a lethalquantity of an ultrashot acting barbiturate in combination with a chemicalparalytic ingredient in a quantity sufficient to cause death.  Prior to the lethalinjection, the person shall be sedated by a licensed physician, registered nurse,or other competent personnel, by either oral tablet or capsule or anintramuscular injection of a narcotic or barbiturate such as morphine, cocaine,or demerol.  In the provisions of the N.J.S.  2C  49-3, it says that theCommissioner of the Department of Corrections determines the substances andprocedure to be used in execution.  The Commissioner shall also designatepersons who are qualified to administer injections and who are well-known(prenominal) withmedical procedures, other than licensed physicians.  Also, persons conductingthe execut ion must be unknown to the person being executed.  Under the N.J.S.2C  49-7, only certain people are allowed to be present at the execution.  Theyinclude  the Commissioner, execution technicians, two licensed physicians, sixadult citizens, no more than two clergymen not related to the person, tworepresentatives from major(ip) news wire services, two television representatives,two newspaper representatives, and two radio representatives.  No one relatedeither by blood or by marriage to the person being executed or to the victim ispermitted to be present during the execution.  (New Jersey Statutes AnnotatedTitle 2C Code of Criminal Justice  2C  37 to 2C  End)         There are two very important Supreme Court cases dealing with capitalpunishment.  In 1972, in the case of Furman vs. Georgia, the Supreme Court governthat under then existing laws, the imposition and carrying out of the death