Capital Punishment and Execution in the US Research Paper

Capital Punishment and Execution in the US - inquiry Paper ExampleThe major methods of execution pulmonary tuberculosisd in the past included the exposure of the defendant to a firing squad. on that point was excessively the use of gas chambers as well as hanging and electrocution (Weisenberg). Another method which was introduced later, and is mostly used today, is the use of lethal injection to embitter the criminal. One of the most talked of execution is that of Pedro Medina in March 1997 one that most people have criticized and termed notorious (Gromer and Gromer). Initially adopted by 38 states, hood penalty has since been banned by law in 34 states. Some more states have put it on hold while a a few(prenominal) still think that it should just be practiced extensively (CNN 1). Capital punishment has been an issue of social contention in the US, of late. Many Americans have retained a support for it, particularly in murder cocktail dresss. However, the support has been i n the decline following strong criticism from some sectors of the American community. I agree with many that there is nothing good in taking someones life, and therefore, more humane ways need to be in interpose for carrying out the duty. I hereby beg to admit that, despite the cruelty in it, sometimes our emotions push us towards seeing the positive side of it. There has similarly been a widespread debate on whether or not the executions should be televised. My paper seeks to look at the pros and cons associated with both the idea of jacket punishment and the television of the executions. It is a fact that many court TV and other television networks today attempt to cover proceedings on criminal cases. They also go as far as televising the cases to interested viewers from homes. Some media executives and lawyers have foreseen a possibility of a future broadcast of the executions too. They use the case of San Franciscos KQED-TV as an indicator. This television station hit news h eadlines a few years ago when it asked for permission to record a murderers execution. The station intended to show the unedited tape of Robert Alton Harris execution, though late in the night when children had slept (Weisenberg). It is interesting to note that both proponents and opponents of capital punishment sometimes, ironically, occur themselves as strange bedfellows whenever there is a debate on whether the executions should be broadcasted on TV or not. It is common to find a person who is against capital punishment yet they support the idea of televising the executions. Likewise, some proponents of the punishment also tend to strongly oppose the idea of televising the executions. For those who support capital punishment, televising executions will merely serve to promote sympathy for the criminals. This sympathy may blind the general public to an extent that they may not realize the injury the criminal meted on their victim. The opponents of capital punishment, on the oth er hand, oppose the idea of television on grounds that it has the ability to reduce the death penalty to a few legal proceeding affair. This is so false because the pain covers even the time a criminal spends several sleepless nights in anticipation of the fateful day. Some people also think that showing the executions on TV may give a haunting picture to the viewers, especially the emotionally and psychologically unstable ones, including young children (Bender 1). Televising the executions may also make the execution seem, to many people, as a form of