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Politics, Capital Punishment and Execution


By 1963, nearly all mandatory capital punishment laws had been eliminated. In the twentieth century some states began to completely get rid of the death penalty. Six states eliminated the death penalty all together and three limited it to crimes of treason and first degree murder of a police officer. However, WWI caused five of the six states that abolished the death penalty to reinstate it. During the 1930's America averaged 167 executions a year. However, in the 1950's the death penalty and the numbers of executions in a year began to drop (Death Penalty Information Center, 2011).
             In 1888 a famous new form of execution was invented, the electric chair. Previous executions were the criminals would be hung. Some other methods that had been used in the past included, beheading, drowning, boiling, and burning at the stake. New York was the first people to build an electric chair, and in 1890 William Kemmler was the first person to ever be executed in the electric chair. Other states were ready to try the same technique of execution (History of the Electric Chair, 2010). Then the use of Cyanide as was introduced in 1924. People thought this was a more humane way of committing an execution. Gee Jon was the first to be executed in the form of Cyanide poisoning. This also inspired the creation of the gas chamber. Most executions to this day have been from the injection of Cyanide poisoning, which is the best form of capital punishment. It creates less controversy on the topic when the criminal is killed in a less cruel punishment such as hanging or the electric chair.
             In the case of Atkins v. Virginia the Supreme Court decided that it was unconstitutional to execute someone who is 'mentally retarded'. When the decision was being made it was noted that qualities of individuals who are 'mentally retarded' "weaken the strength of procedural protection". People who are mentally challenged are typically more impressionable and may be easily convinced into confessing to the committal of a crime.


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