Although the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution clearly prohibits “unusual and cruel punishment,” the United States Supreme Court in the Louisiana case ex rel. Frances v. Resweber determined that the death penalty is not cruel or unusual, and is still in practice (Hartley 1). While all other democratic countries have already abolished the death penalty, it is still legal in most countries. To date, thirty-five out of fifty states provide for capital punishment. The state of Texas “carried out just over a third of all executions in this country” (Death Penalty Progress). The question of whether or not the death penalty should be constitutional has been on the rise for about three decades now, ever since the Supreme Court reaffirmed its acceptance of the use of capital punishment in the 1976 case Gregg v. Georgia (Hartley 1). The arguments for and against the death penalty are strong on both sides, but capital punishment should not be constitutional in a country as civilized and democratic as the United States of America. There are many people who see capital punishment as an essential punishment. of those who do not value human life. However, there is a risk of executing an innocent person. The case of Cameron Todd Willingham may be just one example. He was sentenced to death for setting a fire and thus killing his three young children. After remaining on death row for 12 years, he was executed in Texas in 2004, but later “rigorous scientific analysis showed that there was no evidence that the fire in a one-story wood-frame house at Corsicana was the result of arson." , as the authorities had claimed” (Herbert 1). Also, as the Death Penalty Information Center...... middle of document......015.http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/death-penalty/us-death- penalty- facts/death-penalty-and-race“The progress of the death penalty”. Dallas Morning News, Il (TX). (December 2013): A14. Network. December 30, 2015. Enquirer, Cincinnati. “The death penalty is not a good response to crime.” National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. July 27, 2012. Web. January 3, 2015. Hartley, Rogen. "Capital Punishment". In Schultz, David, ed. Encyclopedia of American Law. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2002. American History Online. File Web Facts, Inc.. December 30, 2015.Herbert, Bob. "Innocent but dead." New York Times September 1, 2013: A29(L). InfoTrac newspapers. Network. January 3, 2015. "There is no such thing as a 'humane' execution." The New York Times December 14, 2014: A30. Network. 4 January 2015. “The 10 main pros and cons. Should the death penalty be allowed?” Death Penalty.ProCon.org. Np, 2014. Web. 4 January. 2015.