Because of this, taxpayers are spending over $10 million on death penalty cases (Death Penalty Information Center"). For this reason, it makes much more sense to abolish capital punishment and to protect the innocence from being being harmed, that way the United States can save more money.
In addition to its cost, capital punishment is cruel and unusual. Executions can be done in 5 ways: the gas chamber, hanging, firing squad, electrocution, or lethal injection (Capital Punishment- Cruel and Unusual"). These methods are all currently used depending on the state. If a prisoner selects the gas chamber, he or she is told to breathe deeply, which is that last thing they usually do. Clifton Duffy, a former penitentiary warden observed a gas chamber execution and reported "At first there is evidence of extreme horror, pain, and strangling. The eyes pop. The skin turns purple and the victim begins to drool"" (Description of Execution Methods). .
Carly Chessman was executed by the gas chamber and before he died, he told reporters that .
he would nod his head if it hurt. After the gas entered the chamber, the reporters reported that Chessman nodded his head for several minutes (Description of Execution Methods"). When a prisoner is executed by hanging, he or she is blindfolded with their hands and legs tied together and a noose put around their neck. After that, a trap door below the prisoner's feet is opened and he or she falls through (Description of Execution Methods"). What is supposed to happen next is that the prisoners neck should break, causing instant death; but most of the time, this does not happen. .
If the inmate has strong neck muscles, is very light, if the drop is too short, or the noose has been wrongly positioned, the fracture-dislocation is not rapid and death results from slow asphyxiation. If this occurs, the face becomes engorged, the tongue protrudes, the eyes pop, the body defecates, and violent movements of the limbs occur (Description of Execution Methods").