Capital Punishment: Cruel and Unusual?

My essay is argumentative on whether or not the death penalty is crule and unusual punishment or necessary means of punishment. Specific laws are quoted for the State of Washington. Other points brought up are: the wrongfully convicted and sentenced, procedure once found guilty, and other statistical information nationwide regarding means of execution and death toll. In 2002, 71 inmates were executed in various states with in the U.S. 70 of the executions were carried out by …

…S. Department of Justice · Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/exe.htm "Sentenced to Death: A Report on Washington Supreme Court Rulings In Capital Cases" The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, August 2000 (revised February 2001) http://www.aclu-wa.org/ISSUES/criminal/Death.Penalty.Report.8.00.html "Washington State Death Penalty" Washington State Department of Corrections, Last updated: July 28, 2003 http://www.doc.wa.gov/deathpenalty/deathpnlty.htm 810 words