Capital Punishment

Capital Punishment
"He who sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God was
man created."(Genesis 9:6) "Anyone who by violence causes a death must be put to death."(Exodus
21:12) "But should any person dare to kill another with deliberate planning, you will take that person
even from my altar to be put to death."(Exodus 21:14)
Capital Punishment can be described as a the punishment of death for a very bad or heinous
crime like murder. Not all states have got capital punishment, otherwise known as the "Death Penalty."
The states which do not have this type of punishment are Alaska, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa,
Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and
Wisconsin. The remaining states do have some form of capital punishment ranging from hanging, firing
squad, electrocution, gas chamber, and lethal injection.
If somebody killed someone they would not automatically get the death penalty, there are several
circumstances that a judge, jury, and prosecutioner must look at to see how bad the crime was. In some
states if you kidnap someone, and do heinous things to them, you could still be eligible for the death
penalty. Each state which carries a death sentence has got their own requirements that a person must
meet to decide whether they get life in prison, or the sentence of death. Below is each state which carries
a death sentence and the requirements that a person must meet and be convicted of in order to receive the
death sentence.
In Alabama in order to receive the death penalty you must murder during a kidnapping,
robbery, rape, sodomy, burglary, sexual assault, or arson. Also, someone would get the death penalty if
they murdered a peace officer, correctional officer, public official, or murder under a life sentence.
They're many more but they are kind of useless to my paper. In the state of Arizona, the only way you
could receive the death penalty was if you committed first degree murder and had one of ten "aggravating"
factors associated with the murder. In Arkansas you must kill someone with arson, kill a law enforcement
officer on purpose, a teacher or school worker, kill a prison worker, a jail attendant, correctional worker,
or someone who is in the military. Also if you are a hit man, otherwise known as contract murder. In
California you must commit treason, which are acts to try to overthrow the government, homicide by a
prisoner serving a life term, train wrecking, and lastly perjury causing execution. For Colorado, it is
almost the same as Arkansas but it also includes referees and judges. In Connecticut "murder of a public
safety or correctional officer, murder for pecuniary gain; murder in the case of a felony; murder by a
defendant with a previous conviction for intentional murder; murder while under a life sentence; murder
during kidnapping; illegal sale of cocaine, methadone, or heroin to a person who dies from using these
drugs; murder during first-degree sexual assault; multiple murders; the defendant committed the
offense(s) with an assault weapon."(AOL1) For the state of Delaware murder with aggravating
circumstances, "including murder of a child victim fourteen years of age or younger by an individual who
was atleast four years older than the victim,"(AOL1) and the same like killing police officers or other
peace people. In Florida you must "commit felony murder; first-degree murder; sexual battery on a child
under age twelve; destructive devices which result in death, and capital drug trafficking."(AOL1) In
Georgia its about the same with the exception of
hijacking an airplane when someone dies. For the state of Illinois, if you commit first degree murder
with atleast only one of fourteen aggravating circumstances, you will be sentenced to death. It seems
hardest to get the death penalty in Indiana because you must murder someone and include all fourteen
aggravating circumstances. Kansas is roughly the same as in Colorado but if you killed two people in the
same incident you will most likely get the death penalty also. In Kentucky, you could possibly get the
death penalty without even killing someone if you kidnap someone and there is an aggravating factor, also
if you murder with only one aggravating factor. In Louisiana, all you have to do is murder someone or
commit treason. In Maryland, "commit first degree murder, either premeditated or during the
commission of a felony."(AOL1) Mississippi's death penalty is exactly like this: "capital murder includes
murder of a police officer or correctional guard, murder under life sentence, murder by bomb or explosive,
contract murder murder committed during specific felonies which include (rape, burglary, unnatural
intercourse with a child, and nonconsentual unnatural intercourse); and murder of an elected official.
Capital rape in Mississippi is defined as forcible rape of a child under fourteen years of age by a person
eighteen or older."(AOL1) Missouri just says that you must commit first degree murder. In Montana you
must kill someone on purpose, kidnap a person and they die or someone trying to help them dies, try to
break someone out of prison who has killed someone already. For Nebraska, just kill someone on purpose.
In Nevada you have to kill someone with atleast nine aggravating factors. New Hampshire is about the
same as Colorado. In New Jersey, if you kill someone or know someone is going to be killed, also contract
murder. In New Mexico, kill someone or commit murder with felony circumstances. For North Carolina,
just commit first degree felony murder. Ohio states "aggravated murder, including assassination; contract
murder; murder during escape; murder while in a correctional facility; murder after conviction for a prior
purposeful killing or prior attempted murder; murder of a peace officer; murder arising from specific
felonies(rape, kidnapping, arson, robbery, burglary); murder of a witness to prevent testimony in a
criminal proceeding or in retaliation."(AOL1) Oklahoma is the same except it adds that murder when the
victim is a child who has been maimed, tortured, or injured. Oregon says that all you have to do is
commit aggravated murder. In Pennsylvania and South Carolina just commit murder and have an
aggravating circumstance. In South Dakota, you would get the death penalty if you committed first degree
murder or kidnapped someone and did permanent physical injury to them. In Tennessee you would get
the death sentence if you killed someone while you were committing a felony. Texas which executes the
most people has a whole list of offenses which someone could get the death penalty for they are "murder
of a public safety officer, fireman, or correctional employee; murder during the commission of specified
felonies like kidnapping, burglary, robbery, aggravated rape, or arson; murder for remuneration [means
gain], multiple murders, murder during prison escape, murder by a Stateprison inmate who is serving a
life sentence for any of five offenses; murder of an individual under six years of age."(AOL1) In Utah, if
you committed murder or you were a prisoner and committed aggravated assault while under a life
sentence. Virginia has got capital punishment for crimes like murdering someone while involved in
felonies like abduction, armed robbery, rape, and forcible sodomy, also for contract murder, murder of a
cop or killing someone under twelve years of age. In Washington you get the death penalty if you commit
premeditated murder. In Wyoming you get the punishment of death if you commit "premeditated murder;
felony murder in the perpetration [attempts] of sexual assaults, arson, robbery, burglary escape, resisting
arrest, kidnapping, or abuse of a child under sixteen years of age."(AOL1)
There are many different forms of capital punishment used today throughout the United States,
they are hanging, firing squad, electrocution, gas chamber, and a lethal injection. When someone is
hanged today they are killed execution style by strangling or snapping the neck by a suspended noose.
When someone is executed in front of a firing squad, they are put attached to a pole in the ground and
expert shooters shoot at him and aim to explode his heart. When someone is sentenced to die in the
electric chair, they have to wear a leather mask to cover their face not because they aren't to see what is
going to happen to them but to keep their eyeballs from popping across the room. When someone is
electrocuted their body temperature reaches one hundred thirty eight degrees farenheight.(AOL2) When
someone is electrocuted they will experience a heaping chest, foaming mouth, bloody sweat, burning skin
and hair, and their eyeballs pop out of their face.(AOL2) At first the electric chair was used as an
alternative to hanging. The way of executing someone through lethal injection is when a doctor comes in
and mixes a solution which poisons the body and makes all the person's organs fail. It is described by
inmates as the "ultimate high."(AOL2) In the gas chamber, a prisoner is put in a type of room where the
fumes can't escape and a lethal gas is released into the air and the person who is strapped in a chair is
killed eventually by the fumes. Its kind of like how the Nazis gassed the Jews, but the Jews didn't do
anything to deserve the punishment.
Each state which has got a form or forms of capital punishment has their own way of executing
someone. Lethal injection is used today in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho,
Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New
Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas,
Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.(AOL1) Hanging is used in Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and
Washington.(AOL1) Electrocution is used in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana,
Kentucky, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.(AOL1) The gas chamber is used in
states like Arizona, California, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, and Wyoming.(AOL1)
Utah is the only state which uses a firing squad.(AOL1)