Is the Death Penalty Necessary? Analytical Essay by Top Papers

The paper discusses how capital punishment has been administered and accepted in this country for over two centuries, however, some states have now abolished the practice, while others continue with sanctioned executions. The paper relates that in 2000, Governor George Ryan of Illinois suspended executions in that state and "commuted the death sentences of all Illinois death row inmates in 2003" (Wolfers 791). The paper then reveals that following Ryan's lead, in 2004, New York's highest court ruled that the state's death penalty statute was unconstitutional. The paper notes that although prisoners still sit on California's death row, executions in that state are virtually nonexistent, however, executions in Texas continue at a even pace (791).