Capital Punishment Capital Punishment Capital punishment or the infamous death penalty is a subject of much controversy in modern times.
Capital punishment is punishment by death.
Treason, murder, kidnapping, and criminal attack may be punished by death, as prescribed by Federal laws of the United States. The death penalty is reserved for only a small number of convicted first degree or aggravated murderers whose crimes are so heinous as to shock the conscience of the community, such as murder by torture or murder of a law enforcement officer. Today, there are more than 3,000 people on death row. Regardless of which method is used, the death penalty is a barbaric anachronism and should be abolished. In the U.S., majority public opinion has demanded that condemned persons be executed by these so-called merciful methods.