lives of those punished, instead of temporarily imprisoning them. Although capital punishment is

not intended to inflict physical pain, execution is the only corporal punishment still applied to

adults. The usual alternative to the death penalty is life-long imprisonment. The media

commonly report that the American public overwhelmingly supports the death penalty. More

careful analysis of public attitudes, however, reveals that most Americans would oppose the

death penalty if convicted murderers were sentenced to life without parole and were required to

make some form of financial restitution. "In California, for example, a Field Institute survey

showed that in 1990,82 percent approved in principle of the death penalty. But when asked to

choose between the death penalty and life imprisonment plus restitution, only a small

minority,26 percent, continued to favor executions.

The earliest historical records contain written evidence of capital punishment. Used from

ancient times in most societies, it has been used as punishment for crimes ranging from petty

theft to murder. The bible called for the penalty of death for more th

from prison after twelve years awaiting execution for the murder of two white men. Their

offenders, as compared with white, were often executed for crimes less often receiving the death

enacted into law by nearly two dozen states, is lethal injection, first used in Texas in 1982. There

12 per cent of the nation's population.

Furthermore the chance of escape is very low in current high tech prisons.

country in this century. The condemned prisoner is led--or dragged--into the death chamber,

number of prison wardens, maintain that capital punishment constitutes cruel and unusual

conviction reviewed by any higher court.

in many ways now regarded today as barbaric and forbidden by law almost everywhere. Some

and the defendants were released after eighteen months on death row.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Millions Misspent, Idaho Utah, Gunnar Myrdal, Latino Asian, Angeles County, Bentham England, , Canada Australia, Field Institute, Los Angeles, death penalty, capital punishment, death row, life imprisonment, death penalty costs, penalty costs, strapped chair, penalty deterrent, percent black, lethal injection, death penalty deterrent, abolished death penalty, life-long imprisonment, cruel unusual punishment, electrocution gas chamber,
Approximate Word count = 2171
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)