It is May 4th, 1992, and a white male lays down strapped to a gurney. He is awaiting his lethal dose of a concoction of amobarbital, pentobarbital, secobarbital, and/or thiopental (Deathpenaltyinfo.org). He had received the death penalty for sexually assaulting and murdering of 33 young men. As he laid awaiting his faith, he utterered the words “Kiss my ass.” These words were a clear sign of his unsympathetic and detached personality. He showed no remorse for his actions and disregarded the victim’s families who he had caused a great strain to. This man is John Wayne Gacy, known as Pogo the Clown.
Opposers and supporters of capital punishment came together to show their approval of the action. Prisoners that are sentenced to the death penalty,…show more content… According to a New York Times article published in 2011 by Adam Liptak, the average inmate waits up to 13 years before facing execution. 13 years is the average number of years an inmate will wait until an execution can take place, however; many inmates have been on death row for over 30 years until their execution date was finalized. The problem with that is that long waiting periods before an execution have been seen as forms of torture by countries around the world. The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (US Const. amend. VIII). This means that no person, whether committed of a crime or not, should be treated inhumanely through physical or financial harm. Regardless of the people's stance on capital punishment, we can all agree that being placed in confinement knowing that any day now you will die could cause psychological harm to an individual. The solution would be to model the actions of those countries around us who have a rapid execution process. Many countries execute those sentenced to the death penalty in the matters of days. However, if the United States cannot find a way to shorten the amount of time an inmate will spend on death row, then we should adopt a method of secrecy like Japan, According to BBC news, in Japan those awaiting capital punishment…show more content… Although the Supreme Court has ruled the death penalty and the act of capital punishment as constitutional, many believe it is a violation. The opposing side also argues that the methods used for an execution are not effective. In 2009, a convicted murderer named Romell Broom was set for his execution. Unfortunately, “for more than two hours, the team attempted to insert two shunts into a vein of the compliant Broom, who tried several times to assist his executioners by shifting positions, rubbing his arm and pointing out possible usable veins” (TheNewYorkTimes.com) Not only does the event further the physiological harm Broom endured while waiting his trial since he was convicted in 1984, but he now to live with the physical harm inflicted upon him through the continuous needle pricks before giving up on the
