Nearly four centuries have passed since the first recorded lawful execution on American soil (Captain George Kendall was killed for the crime of theft in 1608). Every method used in the death penalty has purported to be more humane, less painful, and scientific. Massive and familiar as the death penalty is to modern America, in order to understand the death penalty today, we must look at the changes it has undergone. The intended effect of hanging is the dislocation of the cervical vertebrae which produces instant death. Hangings are optional to the condemned presently in only four states-Montana, New Hampshire, Washington, and Delaware. The 1996 execution of John Taylor in Utah provides a clear look at the modern method of death by firing squad (Taylor claimed he was innocent and chose a firing squad over lethal injection to embarrass state officials). Tayl

Money is not the only factor working against justice in our biased legal system. Gender is an important part in determining sentencing; 97% of the individuals currently on death row are men. A recent study found that killing a white person increased the odds of being sentenced to death by a factor of nearly 4 in Illinois, a factor of 5 in Florida, and a factor of 7 in Georgia. While some murders are so vicious and violent that race may not be a determining factor in sentencing, in less brutal murders both prosecutors and jurors may unintentionally let race influence their decision making process.

In 1996, Rolando Cruz was allowed to walk out of his death-row cell after eleven long years. He had been convicted of the rape and murder of a ten-year-old Chicago girl. No physical evidence had ever linked Cruz to the crime, and no motive was ever established. Lacking real evidence, the police created phony evidence. They claimed that during interrogation, Cruz had recounted a "dream" that contained specific details about the killing-details only the real killer could have known. Prosecutors disclosed the "dream" evidence only four days before the trial. Although most of the interrogation was tape-recorded, the portion describing the "dream" sequence was not. Even though the man who had actually committed the murder had confessed to the crime eight years earlier, it took a new DNA test to exonerate Cruz.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1481
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)