Although many states have decided to remove their death penalty verdict, you can always count on Texas. We have the death penalty and we use it more then anyone, and it works. In Texas, we have these "
9th Annual March to Stop Executions", all of the time. We have these "Anti-Death" rally's, it seems, every month. In order for you to receive the death penalty you must:
- murder of a public safety officer or firefighter in the line of duty
- murder during the commission of specified felonies (kidnapping, burglary, robbery, aggravated rape, arson)
- murder for remuneration
- multiple murders
- murder during prison escape
- murder of a correctional officer
- murder of a judge
- murder by a state prison inmate who is serving a life sentence for any of five offenses; [or]
- murder of an individual under six years of age1
Although, I am strongly for the death penalty, statistics show that homicide rates in states with the death penalty are higher than in those without, and have shown similar up-and-down trends over the years, offering little support to the contention that capital punishment is a deterrent.
These are the states that do NOT have the death penalty, although there are a lot of them, Texas, California, Florida, and North Carlina, (States with the death penalty) have a higher homicide rate then the following states who do NOT have a death penalty verdict.
- Alaska
- Hawaii
- Iowa
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- North Dakota
- Rhode Island
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Although I strongly agree with the death penalty, it seems that it's not exactly working for the states with the penalty.