Spotlight on US death penalty

Nowadays, we can consider USA like a member of the small circle of liberal democracy where the death penalty is applied yet. Among fifty (50) states, twelve (12) abolished the death penalty through legislation. But death penalty is used in Texas where the performances were about to one hundred and thirty (130) deaths for the year two thousand (2000) We'll see, in two parts, different angles about the population of USA who respect or not the death penalty and the causes of the death penalty’s decline.

I) Different points of views against the death penalty

A survey let us supposed that 66% of American people were mostly for the death penalty, whereas the other part of population was against.

Several organization fight for the abolition of the death penalty. In fact, they make investigations to see if the death row inmates are really guilty or if their judgement weren't harder than that of other convicts. These organisations would like find clues to prove innocence's convicts. When he was a candidate to become a federal senator from Illinois, Obama said on television that the death penalty was used "too frequently and unconsciously" and recalled that "thirteen (13) death row inmates in Illinois were freed because of their innocence".

Abolitionists were mostly scored on the side of political institution. Their great victory were with the Illinois. George RYAN, the governor of this state, raised the national debate on capital punishment by issuing a moratorium on executions in two thoursand ( 2000 ) about these 13 men, wrongly convicted and so released.

Since two thousand (2000), we can see that the number of executed people decreased, that's why abolitionists can keep optimist !

II) The decrease in execution There are different kinds of execution :
- hanging electrocution
- gassing
- firing squad
- lethal injection further more lethal injection is the most practical