User:Anigr2/sandbox

Article Evaluation
original article: Capital punishment in the United States


 * Everything in the article "Capital Punishment in the United States" is relevant to the topic of the United States' death penalty. It contains sections describing its early history, early implementations and problems, Supreme Court cases that detail legal rulings and issues, methods of execution that have been and are used, and ending with modern public opinion in the United States.
 * The article is neutral because the article consists of mostly court cases when historical arguments are explained, so there is no leeway with manipulating fact of law. Also, the references are research articles that are not opinionated.
 * All the information in this article is represented equally, as there are sections that detail every aspect of the death penalty in the United States, including the punishment in the past, present, and its use in the future. As well, the article contain information about the punishment as it is applied to men, women, juveniles, and other groups in the nation.
 * The links work and their information can be found throughout the article.
 * Every fact that contains a date has a source that is cited with a number at the end of the sentence.
 * The information is not outdated, as it was last updated 13 days ago.
 * There are users discussing what things can be added to the article as well as things they would like to add but are not sure what to do, so they are asking others
 * It is rated B-class, mid and low-importance to law
 * It is discussed much more factually and professionally.

Missing Elements that are Important to the Article

 * no section about botched executions: important to detail the controversies behind the death penalty and arguments against it; can be added to the controversy section
 * can add a table about states who abolished the death penalty and the dates that they did: can be added to "repeal movements and legal challenges" section
 * incomplete list of aggravating factors: under the "aggravated murder" section of "Capital Crimes", there are some aggravating factors that are listed, but I did some research and there are far more aggravating factors to make a murder punishable by death; I will add a section of aggravating factors
 * delete unnecessary debate section at bottom of page

Things that Can Be Removed
There is a random section at the very bottom of the page that is titled "Debate", despite the fact that there is already a section for this. The information should be with the rest of the first section, and none of the references in this second section are cited properly. They are MLA cited, not Wikipedia cited.

What I am Improving on

 * adding a section about botched executions as part of the debate section
 * adding a table about states who abolished the death penalty and the dates that they abolished it
 * add a list of some aggravating factors that make a 1st degree murder punishable by death
 * delete unnecessary second debate section and references

Botched Executions
One the main arguments against the use of capital punishment in the United States is that there has been a long history of botched executions. University of Colorado Boulder Professor Michael L. Radelet described a "botched execution" as an execution that causes the prisoner to suffer for a long period of time before they die. This has led to citizens having the opinion that capital punishment is cruel and unusual punishment. The following is a short list of botched executions that have occurred in the United States.


 * William Kemmler was the first person executed in the electric chair in 1890. After being pronounced dead after 17 seconds, he was found to be still alive. A second current was passed through him, and he died that time. The execution took 2 minutes.
 * In Arizona, it took Joseph Wood 2 hours to die after being injected.
 * In Alabama, the execution of Doyle Hamm was cancelled after the prison medical staff had failed to find a vein to insert the lethal injection needle. They attempted for 2 and a half hours and punctured Hamm's skin at least 10 times.
 * In Florida, Jesse Joseph Tafero had flames burst from his hair during an electrocution.
 * Wallace Wilkerson died after 27 minutes in pain after the firing squad failed to shoot him in the heart. Because of this, the constitutionality of the use of the firing squad was questioned. The Supreme Court of the United States affirmed that the firing squad did not violate the 8th Amendment in the case Wilkerson v. Utah (1879).
 * In New Mexico, Thomas Ketchum was decapitated when his body fell through the trap door during his hanging.
 * In Mississippi, Jimmy Lee Gray died after being in the gas chamber for 9 minutes. During the procedure, Gray thrashed and banged his head against the metal pole behind his head while struggling to breathe.

Table of Abolitionist States and Dates of Abolition
19 states including the District of Columbia have abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Below is a table of the 19 states and the date that the state abolished the death penalty.

Aggravating Factors
In order for a person to be eligible for a death sentence when convicted of aggravated first-degree murder, the jury or court (when there is not a jury) must determine at least one of sixteen aggravating factors that existed during the crime's commission. The following is a list of the 16 aggravating factors.


 * 1) Murder while committing another felony.
 * 2) Offender was convicted of a separate felony involving a firearm prior to the aggravated murder.
 * 3) Being convicted of a separate felony where death or life imprisonment was authorized prior to the aggravated murder.
 * 4) Being convicted of any separate violent felony prior to the aggravate murder.
 * 5) The offender put the lives of at least 1 or more other persons in danger of death during the commission of the crime.
 * 6) Offender committed the crime in an especially cruel, heinous, or deprave manner.
 * 7) Offender committed the crime for financial gain.
 * 8) Offender committed the crime for monetary gain.
 * 9) The murder was premeditated, involved planning in order to be carried out, or the offender showed early signs of committing the crime, such as keeping a journal of the crime's details and posting things on the Internet.
 * 10) Offender was previously convicted of at least to drug offenses.
 * 11) The victim would not have been able to defend themselves while being attacked.
 * 12) Offender was previously convicted of a federal drug offense.
 * 13) Offender was involved in a long-term business of selling drugs to minors.
 * 14) A high-ranking official was murdered, such as the President of the United States, the leader of another country, or a police officer.
 * 15) Offender was previously convicted of sexual assault or child rape.
 * 16) During the crime's commission, the offender killed or tried to kill multiple people.