Capital Punishment

Is Capital Punishment right or wrong? Should we fight fire with fire? Putting to death the people who have committed certain extremely brutal crimes is a practice of ancient standing, but in the United States in the twentieth century, it has become a very controversial issue. Capital punishment was a part of American culture long before the United States was founded. According to James R. Acker in his book, “America’s Experiment with Capital Punishment,” he states, “nearly four centuries have passed, and over 18,000 people have been executed by lawful authority in the territorial U.S., since the earliest confirmed death sentence was carried out in 1608 in colonial Virginia” (5). Debate about the death penalty has been as persistent as the punishment itself. I feel that the death penalty is a right and effective way of punishment, which will make our society a safer place. However, there are ma...