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Amber Urso
CPT 101*02
Capital Punishment in America

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In todays society theres a consistent change in many activates that were once frowned
upon ten, twenty and thirty years ago. There are rules and regulations that have been put into
place and have been removed due to the changes in societys norms. The contentious
fluctuations in what defines what is right and what is wrong has been blurred over the years
punishment for offenses and the appropriate uses to punishment for these offences have been
skewed. The greatest form of punishment in The United States is capital punishment. Capital
punishment normally coincides with the death penalty. The death penalty has been used over the
years for multiple cases that were deemed illegal but then the reason for execution became a
norm in society. The death penalty should be legal in The United States because it creates an
ultimate judicial punishment if it is applied to every state, death penalty should apply to
potentially harmful individuals from outside the boarders and the death penalty should only
applyto the deadliest of criminals in the country.
Capital punishment is defined as The imposition of a penalty of death by the state.
Capital punishment was widely applied in ancient times. (ProCon.org) As time progressed those
types of punishment could be given by Supreme Court. Capital punishment was given to an
individual by the state if they committed the ultimate crime of that era. Over time and the
expansion in the judicial system in The United States each state had given its own set of judicial
rules that were different from the nationwide judicial system. Some states deem acts as illegal
while others consider them illegal. An example of a form of crime that was once considered

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illegal was homosexual marriages and relationships in The United States. Being a homosexual
was once viewed as a sin, illegal and a diseases in The United States and those that were
homosexual would be given the death penalty. Those that would engaging in homosexual activity
would be heavily drugged, harassed and or killed. Legal infliction of the death penalty; in
modern law, corporal punishment in its most severe form. Lynching, in contrast to capital
punishment, is the unauthorized, illegal use of death as a punishment. The usual alternative to the
death penalty is long-term or life imprisonment (Capital Punishment 2016). New Mexico was
one of the few states to legalize Gay Marriage on December 19, 2013. (ProCon.org). While this
was occurring other states deemed this act as illegal and so these couples would go to different
states to be married and then move back to their home states to be unofficially married and not
be recognized as a married couple. As the years progressed more states continued to legalize this
form of marriage until it became legal in all states. "Supreme Court Declares Same-Sex Marriage
Legal in All 50 States," (npr.org, June 26, 2015) State-by-state history of banning and legalizing
gay marriage. The death penalty should be applied to every state so punishment such as death for
a crime and accomplishments such as gay marriage can be fairly given to every state and that no
one is exempt from these punishments and or accomplishments of The United States. The death
penalty should be applied to all states so there is a clear understand and following in the judicial
system. All of the states in The United States should agree to uphold the same capital punishment
for the highest of criminals. For example, if a criminal in New Jersey slaughtered a family and
did not receive the death penalty while there is an individual in Texas that killed a three women
would have citizens question the wellbeing of the court system in The United States. What
makes the individual in Texas more worthy of living and escaping death for his crimes than the
individual in New Jersey? As of right now not only half of the states in The United States have

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legalized the death penalty. Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware,
Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana,
Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South
Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming are the
states with the death penalty.(States with and without the death penalty) If the rule of capital
punishment is not applied to all of the states then there will be individuals who see it as if all
criminals do not deserve the death penalty .Every individual must be held to a standard. If the
standard is not upheld then the system in which punishment is given crumbles from society.
To continue, capital punishment for crime should apply to not only the citizens of the country to
which it applies but to individuals that hold a threat to the country as well. If there is any threat
to the country then it is up to the judicial systems to protect, seek and execute a punishment for
the crime and the potential threat received from that individual to the country. Such acts include
terrorism, treason and conspiring against The United States. For example, the terrorist attack on
September 11th, 2001. The United States on Wednesday announced charges against Khalid
Sheikh Mohammed, accused of orchestrating the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and four
others accused of involvement in the plot. The charges allege that the five are "responsible for
the planning and execution of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in New York, Washington, D.C., and
Shanksville, Pa., resulting in the killing of 2,976 people," the statement said. (Khalid sheikh
Mohammed) The death penalty should be legal in the United States to aid the country in
punishment of those who are out to destroy it. There are varying circumstances to what a threat is
and what a threat to the country isnt. For example, boarder control in The United States. There
are varying circumstances. Some illegal immigrants want to come into the country to harm it
while others want to thrive off of The American Dream. The boarder lets The United States

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control whom is coming in and out of the country to prevent any terrorism and or conspiring
from occurring. The priority mission of the Border Patrol is preventing terrorists and terrorists
weapons, including weapons of mass destruction, from entering the United States. Undaunted by
scorching desert heat or freezing northern winters, they work tirelessly as vigilant protectors of
our Nation's borders.(Boarder Patrol Overview). If it were not for this punishment then when it
came to serious situations such as the 9/11 attacks and or future threats there would be no form
of action. The death penalty should be legal across the country so when The United States
crumbles at the hands of a potential threat there is a solution for the wrong doers that posed that
threat or committed that act of harm.
Lastly, The United States should make the death penalty legal but only put it to use for the most
deadly of criminals in the country. The death penalty should be a present factor in the United
States judicial system for the most serious of cases. When faced with an external threat creating
an impact on The United States citizens its only fitting to punish those individuals for the threat
imposed upon the country but when it comes to capital punishment for the citizens in that
country thats where it becomes sticky and the debate of execution as a punishment becomes an
ethical and or unethical action. Only those who have committed the highest of criminal offences
can receive the death penalty. In order to receive the death penalty the person that is being
accused must have taken the life of one or more individuals. The death penalty shall be given to
the individual that has murdered one person if the person that was murdered was killed because
of that individual and or was an important individual, such as in the president of The United
States. For example, William McKinley. The 25th president, William McKinley, was visiting
the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, N.Y., when he was shot twice by anarchist Leon
Czolgosz. McKinley died on Sept. 14, 1901. Czolgosz was sentenced to death and electrocuted

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on Oct. 29, 1901.( U.S. presidential assassinations and attempts) President McKinley was the
most recent president who was assassinated without the killer committing suicide. Of course, this
is only in extreme circumstances because the rareness in such a circumstance occurring. As of
right now there are currently 62 inmates waiting to receive the death penalty for their
crimes.( Federal death row prisoners.) The next upcoming execution of a criminal is Shannon
Agofsky from Texas. She was sentenced to this punishment in 2004 for the Murder of an inmate
at Beaumont Federal Penitentiary in Texas.( Federal death row prisoners.) The death penalty is
something that all states should follow because if it is known that if the crime of murder is
committed then the punishment of execution is present then less would pursue such actions.
To conclude capital punishment is something to not take lightly in The United States. The
importance to agree on where capital punishment stands in the United States will create order for
the judicial system and will not make it seem as though it is unfair and or corrupt. If the United
States upholds every state to the same standard then it presents fairness and equality for all of
those whole decide to commit a murder. The punishment will of course have proper reasoning
behind it and a fair investigation to the individual accused of the crime. Capital punishment isnt
a way of getting rid of criminals it is properly setting up a trial for those accused for
committing the highest form of criminal offences. By making the death penalty legal in America
it creates a finite system that punishes those for their actions.

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Work Cited
Capital Punishment. (2016). Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, 1p. 1
State-by-state history of banning and legalizing gay marriage, 1994-2015. (2016, February 16).
Retrieved April 9, 2016, from Procon.org website: http://gaymarriage.procon.org/
view.resource.php?resourceID=004857
What is the death penalty and capital punishment? (2008). Retrieved from ProCon.org website:
http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000988
States with and without the death penalty. (2015, July 1). Retrieved April 9, 2016, from Death
Penalty Information Center website: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/
states-and-without-death-penalty
Khalid sheikh Mohammed, 4 others charged in 9/11 attack. (2012, April 4). Retrieved April 9,
2016,
from CNN website: http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/04/us/khalid-9-11-charges/

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Border patrol overview. (n.d.). Retrieved 2016, from U.S. Customs and Border Protection
website:
http://www.cbp.gov/border-security/along-us-borders/overview
U.S. presidential assassinations and attempts. (2012, January 22). Retrieved from Los Angeles
Times
website: http://timelines.latimes.com/us-presidential-assassinations-and-attempts/
Federal death row prisoners. (2016, March 24). Retrieved from Death Penalty Information
Center
website: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/federal-death-row-prisoners