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Deluna And The Death Penalty

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Capital punishment has been around in the U.S. since the colonial times. This is a form of punishment given to a criminal who committed brutal crimes such as rape, murder, or torturing of others. Capital punishment first involved someone to be hanged, then in the 1950s to be killed by the electric chair, and now lethal injection is the only form of execution used by the government to get justice. The U.S. is the only western country that practices capital punishment and it traces back to the early civilizations of the world. Hammurabi, the 6th king of the first Babylonian dynasty, was the sole creator of the concept “an eye for an eye”, but this concept was widely influential back then, not so much now (5). The death penalty has …show more content…

DeLuna assumed it must have been Hernandez to the fact they both looked so similar that often they were mistaken for twins. But prosecutors told the jury that Hernandez didn’t exist and DeLuna was executed by lethal injection. Two years later, in 1999, Carlos Hernandez confessed to the killing, proving that DeLuna was an innocent man being wrongly convicted and sentenced to death (1) (6). This is just one of many unpleasant aspects of capital punishment. Subsequently, this leaves the common people, with a very contemplative question in mind, should the U.S. utilize the death penalty for brutal crimes? This is not a matter that can be resolved in days, weeks, or months, this will take years because of the pros and cons on the social aspect of the death penalty. To start of this controversial debate, the most popular motive is the concept of “an eye for an eye” or if a …show more content…

Mr. DeLuna died by the needle in 1989, but if he was to be kept in prison until more evidence were to be discovered to prove his innocence, then he might still be alive and enjoying the astonishing values of life instead he is in the dirt because of lack of evidence. Some may say this is bad luck, but most would say this is unscrupulous. The death penalty is not unknown to the fact that innocent people die to the needle because of lack of evidence which later can be proven more accurate. Capital punishment is viewed in the American society to be the right punishment for criminals that commit brutal crimes, but recent statistics have shown that Americans are slowly drifting from the hardliner “eye for an eye” mindset to a “we can still help him” mindset. On November 28, 2010, in Washington D.C., The Death Penalty Information Center released the results of one of the most in-depth studies ever conducted of American’s views on the death penalty. A national poll of 1,500 registered voters conducted by Lake Research Partners shows growing support for alternatives to the death penalty compared with previous polls. A clear preponderance of voters (61%) would choose a punishment other than the death penalty for murder, including life with no possibility of parole and with restitution to the victim’s family (39%), life with no possibility of parole (13%), or (9%) life

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