Is executing a person considered to be a violation of our eighth Amendment, cruel and unusual punishment? In order to help overcome these barriers, some possible alternatives have been brought to attention. The first alternative would be to leave the death penalty the way it is. The second alternative is to keep the death penalty but allow inmates only a certain number of appeals. And the alternative I feel that will work the best is to abolish the death penalty, so that would mean life in prison for inmates. In addition all inmates will have the opportunity to take a DNA test. .
The obvious alternative is to keep the death penalty the way it is by allowing the states to chose whether they would like to use the death penalty. This alternative is designed to deal with getting dangerous criminals off the streets who commit a capital crime. .
The death penalty is still in effect today, since the government reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Today, each individual state in the United States has the right to chose whether or not they would like to issue the death penalty. Those states that issue the death penalty are not forced to stop doing it, it is up to the Governor of each state to decide. The states will be held responsible for all the actions they take. The appeals process allows the states to decide. Because the death penalty has been in place for the past 24 years, it's been clearly established that only each individual state will deal with their own issues regarding the death penalty. As of today, 38 states have the death penalty (CQ Researcher 199). The advantage to this alternative is that it punishes murders and protects society. The major disadvantage to this alternative of keeping the death penalty is the possibility of killing an innocent person even though they are on death row. Statistics even show that from 1973-1993 2.5 percent of the inmates were released on death row because they were innocent, and the numbers are still climbing.
