Capital Punishment: A Failed Experiment By David Von Drehle

In recent years, the practice of capital punishment has come under scrutiny. Some say that no longer holds the same impact as it once had. An article discussing the concept of the death penalty “Bungled executions, Backlogged courts, And three more reasons the modern death penalty is A Failed Experiment” by David Von Drehle is summarized and the thoughts, ideas, and principles therein are subject to response.

To Be or Not to Be, the Never Ending Debate The death penalty has always been a subject of controversy. Some say that it is a barbaric practice that should be done away with while others claim it to be necessary to ensure the safety of modern society. Either way, capital punishment has always remained a grey area in the

Backlogged courts. And three more reasons the modern death penalty is a failed experiment” written by David Von Drehle (2015) discusses the modern death penalty and how he believes that it is no longer has the standing that it once had in the American justice system. Von Drehle (2015) makes the first claim to why capital punishment is obsolete is that we as a society have had little to no improvement in our method of execution, siting one circumstance in which death row officers in Oklahoma took forty minutes to execute Clayton Lockett until he eventually succumbed to a heart attack (para. 12). Von Drehle also mentioned that the United States has a much lower crime rate than it has in previous years, making the death penalty unnecessary due to fewer individuals committing crimes that would warrant the necessity of the death penalty. This is due to a drop in crime rate of fifty eight percent since the 1960s and 1950s in the United States. The statement was also made that the government no longer has the money to support such a program, saying that the American Government could save up to eleven million dollars a year if it were they to bring an end to capital punishment (para. 36). His final point on the matter is that the justices of the court are no longer supporting the death penalty like they once had, giving it less grounding in the government and in the

Whether or not one would call the death penalty an experiment is up for discussion. Capital punishment has not only been a cornerstone of the American justice system since its inception, but it has remained a cornerstone in the justice systems of mankind since the creation of the first civilizations. Capital punishment can be seen in most civilizations throughout history as a punishment for what were considered unforgivable crimes. It also served as a deterrent for would be criminals who had thoughts of committing what some may consider to be an unforgivable act. This also brings us to the idea of the lack of justifications. Whether or not someone deserves to die seems to be a very subjective question. The answer to this question also tends to receive heavy bias from each side of the debate when it comes to the defendant and the people of the court. The defendant will more than likely have their own interests in mind and make the claim that they deserve a second chance, while the people may have a candid perspective of the situation and make their decision based on the actions of the defendant and will therefore rule in favor of the needle.
In conclusion, it seems suffice to say that capital punishment is no mere experiment. Even though the death penalty has been waning in recent years, it still has a place in our justice system. The death penalty has been a part of the justice system for many years, and it 's