The death penalty is neither cruel nor unusualA ​​man sits motionless in a steel chair with a metal hood resting on his bald head. A priest reads passages from the Bible telling him that he will go to Heaven if he confesses his sins to God. The man simply smiles as the security guard flips the switch and a thousand volts of electricity flow through the man's body. His entire body shakes convulsively as his head bobs up and down in shock. In a couple of seconds the man's life was over. The priest prays, makes the sign of the cross on his chest and, turning slowly, goes out the door. Capital punishment has existed for many years and has spanned many centuries. Between 1927 and 1963, the United States had used capital punishment, or legal execution by lethal injection, electricity, hanging, gas chamber, or firing squad, for some federal crimes. The federal and state death penalty was declared unconstitutional in 1972 by the United States Supreme Court. In 1976 the Supreme Court approved a bill authorizing the death penalty in states that had accepted it. Due to a drug kingpin conspiracy in 1988, the federal death penalty was passed, but it had to be consistent with the 1976 sentence. In 1994, an omnibus crime bill was passed to enhance federal punishment for approximately sixty different crimes . Some of these crimes include the murder of government officials, murder for hire, any minor crime, such as kidnapping or sexual abuse, resulting in death, and even some crimes that did not result in death, such as running a large drug operation drugs (Amsterdam). “The great act,” which is Latin for “you have the body,” allows a federal judge to review convictions in state courts. Over fifty cases have been investigated for things like missing... half the paper... "Bryan Stevenson". People. November 27, 1995, pp. 71-76. Haag, Ernest van den. "Executing child murderers is right." The death penalty: opposing points of view. San Diego, California. Greenhaven Press, Inc. 1991. pp. 82-85.Klaidman, Daniel. “The Success of 'The Great Writ'.” Newsweek. 6 May 1996, pp. 72. Lewin, Tamar. "Punishable by death: Who decides who dies? Even within states, it varies." New York Times. February 23, 1995. SIRS.Pakaluk, Michael. "Christians can morally support the death penalty." The death penalty: opposing points of view. Greenhaven Press, Inc. 1991. pp. 67-73.Steffen, Lloyd. "The death penalty is unjust." The death penalty: opposing points of view. San Diego, California. Greenhaven Press, Inc. 1991. pp. 61-66. Sullum, Jacob. "The death penalty is right." The death penalty: opposing points of view. San Diego, California. Greenhaven Press, Inc. 1991, pp. 57-60.