Death Penalty should be abolished in the US

Overall I believe the death penalty should be legal for a variety of reasons. A. People may be under the impression that the death penalty is racially bias. But according to the NAACP, 56% of all executions in the US since 1976 are white men and woman. The other 44% is a variety of other ethnicity's. B. Many say that the death penalty is the reason for debt in the US but according to Edwin H. Sutherland, PhD, late President of the American Sociological Society, and Donald R. Cressey, PhD, late Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in the 1974 revised edition of their book titled Criminology, wrote: "It is not cheaper to keep a criminal confined, because most of the time he will appeal just as much causing as many costs as a convict under death sentence. Being alive and having nothing better to do, he will spend his time in prison conceiving of ever-new habeas corpus petitions, which being unlimited, in effect cannot be rejected as res judicata. The cost is higher." Edwin H. Sutherland, PhD, late President of the American Sociological Society, and Donald R. Cressey, PhD, late Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in the 1974 revised edition of their book titled Criminology, wrote: "It is not cheaper to keep a criminal confined, because most of the time he will appeal just as much causing as many costs as a convict under death sentence. Being alive and having nothing better to do, he will spend his time in prison conceiving of ever-new habeas corpus petitions, which being unlimited, in effect cannot be rejected as res judicata. The cost is higher." C. In addition to, many people say it goes against our 8th amendment. "Cruel and Unusual Punishment" This is not considered cruel. According to http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org... none of the execution methods are cruel. There is no pain involved. LETHAL INJECTION Two needles (one is a back-up) are then inserted into usable veins, usually in the inmates arms. Long tubes connect the needle through a hole in a cement block wall to several intravenous drips. The first is a harmless saline solution that is started immediately. Then, at the warden's signal, a curtain is raised exposing the inmate to the witnesses in an adjoining room. Then, the inmate is injected with sodium thiopental - an anesthetic, which puts the inmate to sleep. Next flows pavulon or pancuronium bromide, which paralyzes the entire muscle system and stops the inmate's breathing. Finally, the flow of potassium chloride stops the heart. ELECTROCUTION At postmortem, the body is hot enough to blister if touched, and the autopsy is delayed while the internal organs cool. There are third degree burns with blackening where the electrodes met the skin of the scalp and legs. According to Robert H. Kirschner, the deputy chief medical examiner of Cook County, "The brain appears cooked in most cases." (Weisberg, 1991) THE GAS CHAMBER The gas chamber is no longer an option due to the horrific history of the cruel death of innocent members in Germany, and other countries. FIRING SQUAD The person shot loses consciousness when shock causes a fall in the supply of blood to the brain. HANGING Is now only used in Delaware and Washington, but the rope snaps the second vertebra and "shuts off" the heart SOURCES R. Bohm, "Deathquest: An Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Capital Punishment in the United States," Anderson Publishing, 1999. W. Ecenbarger, "Perfecting Death: When the state kills it must do so humanely. Is that possible?," The Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine, January 23, 1994. "Executions - Preparing Staff for the Hard Task Ahead," The Corrections Professional, Vol. 1, February 16, 1996. H. Hillman, "The Possible Pain Experienced During Executions by Different Methods," 22 Perception 745 (1992). J. Weisberg, "This is Your Death," The New Republic, July 1, 1991.