An Opinion Essay about the Death Penalty

The death penalty is the most severe sentence in our legal system. This requires a law official to kill an offender. In many countries the death penalty doesn't exists, but in the United States many states allow the death penalty. Today, there is a big controversy over capital punishment and whether it is morally right. We greatly value our own lives so should the lives of others belong in our hands? Do we possess the right of deciding whether someone lives or dies? Our constitution protects us from "cruel and unusual punishment" so shouldn't that protect a person from being executed.
The death penalty has been around for over 5000 years. Over those 5000 years the death penalty has evolved greatly. For hundreds of years capital punishment was carried out in a public manner. A person would be executed in front of hundreds if not thousands of people. …