In 1972 the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was unconstitutional. In the case of Furman v. Georgia, the Supreme Court voted that the death penalty violated Eighth Amendment rights because it was a cruel and unusual punishment. By 1976, capital punishment was reinstated because enough states rewrote their laws in order to comply with the court ruling.

Capital punishment is an outdated means of punishment that is no longer effective in today's society. Essentially, it is taking a human being's life into our hands and acting like God. This is an inappropriate way to punish our criminals. If we put our criminals in prison for life, they will have to suffer and live everyday with the fact that they are in prison for committing a heinous and gross act of human indecency. If we did this, it would truly punish our bad.

Capital punishment is a ludicrous means of punishment and in many cases, it is not a punishment at all. In June of 2001, the first federal prisoner in 38 years was executed. His name was Timothy McVeigh. McVeigh committed the worst act of terror by an American citizen in American history. McVeigh asked for hi

Some common words found in the essay are:
Eighth Amendment, McVeigh McVeigh, Timothy McVeigh, , Supreme Court, death penalty, capital punishment, crime rate, national crime rate, national crime, timothy mcveigh, supreme court, means punishment,
Approximate Word count = 523
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)