Capital punishment: just or unjust? Can you imagine knowing the exact day, time, and place you were going to die, let alone how your death was going to happen? Day after day I suffer mentally, just knowing that in a few days, hours, minutes and even seconds you are going to be killed. The night before, tossing and turning, playing in your head exactly how you imagine your death will play out, wondering heaven or hell, suffering or short? If only you could look back on that moment of sin, or maybe there never was a moment of sin at all. After what seems like a hundred years, the day finally arrives. You walk into the room slowly, your heart is racing, your hands are sweaty, and you're shivering not because it's cold, but out of fear. Your assistants take you to your station and prepare you for your execution. You sit and think about all the wonderful things in life that you are grateful for, and then what seems like a dream finally fades to black. I firmly believe that the death penalty is the best form of punishment for heinous murderers. History of the Death Penalty The death penalty is one of the most controversial issues raised in America today. The penalty has existed since the 1600s. Great Britain is the country that most strongly influenced the use of the death penalty in the United States (Hood 24). There are several different forms of the death penalty. In the 18th century, the most common way to kill a person who had committed a crime was to hang them. Prisoners were hanged for several different reasons: some for something as serious as the murder of another citizen, others for something as minor as theft (Hood 28). By the end of the 19th century, the electric chair had been adopted as a means of execution. The first chair was built in New York. Soon after, many other states were also using it as a method of capital punishment (Hood 34). In the mid-20th century, lethal gas was introduced as another form of execution. The State of Nevada attempted to introduce cyanide gas into an inmate cell but it did not work, which later led to the construction of the gas chamber (Hood 45). The electric chair which was first used in New York in 1890 and sometimes known as the "old sparky", has been used several times. The accused was tied to a wooden chair, electrodes were attached and a piece of paper in the middle... earlier, there is always a chance that the convict will escape or be released on parole. Many people say that the death penalty is a form of brutality; I believe it is a form of protection. Knowing that a mad killer will never live again definitely reassures me. When a person is sentenced to death, we have the assurance that there is one less murderer in our society. I believe that everyone in our society knows the consequences of killing another citizen, which is an opportunity that all murderers have. Life and leisure should not be a choice for those who commit such cruel crimes. Works Cited “Amnesty International”. Facts and figures about the death penalty. November 1, 2004 “Amnesty International”. Questions and answers about the death penalty. April 2000. November 1, 2004 Cantu, Leslie & Manning, Jon. “Capital punishment, life or death.” November 2, 2004. “Debate on capital punishment – ​​A pro position”. November 2, 2004.Hood, Rodger. The death penalty: a global perspective. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Prokosch, Eric. “Human rights against the death penalty.” International amnesty. December 1998. 2. 2004. .