Texas Death Penalty
TEXAS DEATH PENALTY
TEXAS DEATH PENALTY
"From the beginning of existence, there has been a quandary number of ways to carry out death sentences from; crucifying, drowning, stoning, impalement, hanging etc. The Death penalty is only a way to pay evil for evil done to one another, not a true deterrence for the crimes, and while some cases of heinous acts deserve maximum punishment, there should be life sentences imposed instead of the death penalty. There are many states that have adopted abolishing the Death Penalty, why it is that Texas is still the leader in executions, of the thirty-four states that still recognize Capital Punishment? This paper will portray some history of Texas and the Death Penalty and suggestions of ways to abolishment"
_History of the Death Penalty_
In 1845, the state of Texas executed eight men by methods of hanging which the county officials carried out, which stayed consistent until 1923. Prior to this date each Texas County carried out their own forms of execution In August, the convicted murderer Nathan Lee was the last person Texas executed, along with the firing squad method of execution. In 1924, the execution laws of Texas were amended and stated that all executions would have to be provided by the use of the electric chair, held at Huntsville, Texas' State Penitentiary from 1924 until 1965. Texas was conducting five executions in one day, which lasted for years into the 1950's.
The state then did not begin to execute only one person at a time with no reasoning behind it, nor was there a law to stop Texas from doing so. By 1964, Texas had executed three hundred sixty one inmates by electrocution within forty years between 1924-1977, until the United States Supreme Court ruled in 1972 that Capital Punishment was a form of "cruel and unusual punishment", clearly violating the Constitutions Eighth Amendment, which resulted in the...