Capital punishment: just or unjust? Can you imagine knowing the exact day, time, and place you will die, not to mention how your death would occur? Day after day of mental pain just knowing that in days, hours, minutes and even seconds you will be killed. The night before, tossing and turning, playing in your head just what you imagine your death will be like, wondering heaven or hell, suffering or short? If only you could take back that moment of sin or maybe there never was a moment of sin. After what seems like a hundred years, the day finally arrives. You slowly enter the room, your heart is pounding, your hands are sweaty and you are shaking not because it is cold, but out of fear. Your assistants lead you to your location 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 punishment already existed in the seventeenth century. Great Britain was the country that most influenced America's use of the death penalty (Hood 24). There are different forms of the death penalty. In the eighteenth century, the most common way to kill a person who had committed a crime was by hanging. Prisoners were hanged for different reasons: some for something serious like murdering another citizen, others for something small like 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 City. Soon after, many other states also used it as a method of capital punishment ( Hood 34 ). In the mid-20th century, lethal gas was introduced as an additional form of execution. The state of Nevada attempted to put cyanide gas in an inmate's cell but it didn't work, which led to the construction of the gas chamber (Hood 45). The electric chair, first used in New York in 1890 and sometimes known as the "glittering old man", has been used several times. The accused was tied to a wooden chair, electrodes and a piece of paper were attached to him... before there was always the possibility that the convict would escape or be released on parole. Many people declare that the death penalty is a form of brutalization; I believe it is a form of protection. Knowing that a mad killer will never live again definitely makes me feel a lot safer. When you are sentenced to death, you have the certainty that there is one less murderer in our society. I believe that all people in our society know the consequences of murdering another citizen, which is a risk that all murderers take. Life and leisure should not be a choice for those who commit such callous crimes. Works Cited “Amnesty International”. Facts and figures on the death penalty. 1 November 2004 “Amnesty International”. Questions and answers on the death penalty. April 2000.1 November 2004Cantu, 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”. Amnesty International. December 1998. 2 Nov. 2004. .