Pros And Cons Of The Death Penalty

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Should we be killing killers? Is it ethical to kill someone for their crimes? Or do we allow their death, and our sense of justice to be fulfilled, because we see the pain and torment their actions have caused? The eighth amendment to our Constitution states, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (US Const. amend. VIII). The crimes that have been deemed worthy of death are, “First-degree murder with special circumstances; sabotage; train wrecking causing death; treason; perjury causing execution of an innocent person; and fatal assault by a prisoner serving a life sentence.” (deathpenaltyinfo.org). The answer to the question “Is the death penalty Constitutional?”, is not as simple as it may seem. …show more content…
However, is it cruel and unusual? In the court case of Glossip vs. Gross twenty death row inmates sued state officials, saying that a drug used in the lethal injection procedure was unconstitutional. This was because of the procedure used on Clayton Lockett. “The procedure went poorly; Lockett awoke after the injection of the drugs that were supposed to render him unconscious and did not die until about 40 minutes later.”(Oyez.org). Even though the case was lost, it brought up many concerning problems with this type of execution. If the procedure can have major calamities, and the prisoner could be put through unnecessary pain and torment, then this procedure is cruel, and thus