The 21st century has shown that the death penalty is deeply embedded in the legal and .

             political environment of the American society to the extent that is a definitely difficult for the .

             citizens of this democratic nation to disregard. Our nation executes criminals at a very high rate, .

             one not experienced since the 1950s when recent acts of congress, like recent Supreme Court .

             rulings, have extended the reach of capital punishment and sped up its application. This process .

             has been in the forefront of Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 which .

             restricted habeas corpus appeals and created several new capital offenses. .

             When the United States executed Timothy McVeigh in the first federal execution .

             since 1963, the American public did not argue against the American media about whether or not .

             McVeigh ought to be put to death; more than 80 percent of the public were in favor of his .

             execution so there was little to discuss (Garland, 2002). There is no right or wrong answer to the .

             capital punishment issue and most of the American population feels very strongly about the topic .

             although their views may be significantly dissimilar. The Death penalty issue has been a long .

             time debatable issue since the existence of capital punishment. The death penalty has been used .

             throughout history, long before the organization of societies came into existence. Executing .

             people for the crimes they commit is not a new concept, it has been an age-old practice that has .

             been, and is still, in use for centuries. .

             Throughout history the destiny of the accused was decided by the people, much the same .

             as it is now, the difference, however, is that it was not done in a civil, just or orderly way. The .

             people within the society were the decision makers, who established whether an individual was .

             innocent or guilty. The very same individuals dictated the type of punishment for most of the .

             criminals based on the charges against them.