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Sarah Schalk Mr. Hackney Rhetoric 101 2 October 2013 Crumbling System Supreme Court justices have been occupied by a new case that has recent discussions emerging arguing whether or not the death penalty is an effective system in our government. The capital punishment system has been experiencing many down falls in recent years, whether it is in relationship to lethal injections or electric chairs. Through recent research it has also been found that issues being experienced today may be linked to similar issues in the past that the United States government should have seen coming. In David Von Drehles article, Death Penalty Walking he uses ethos and logos to argue why the system has fallen apart, most likely beyond a point of return. Ethos, such as the authors use of the Supreme Courts responsibility in this issue, is used to make the audience aware of the importance and credibility of the issues in our capital punishment system. In an introduction to the article the author writes, Now a Supreme Court case may force us to consider whether this system makes sense (Drehle 38). The author is exemplifying the fact that this issue is being heavily analyzed and has made its way all the way to the Supreme Court. Drehle explains how the way our death penalty is shows that we believe in taking responsibility but is also one of our downfalls compared to the modernized systems throughout the world. He explains that [o]ur death penaltys continued existence, countering the trend of the rest of the developed world, expresses our revulsion to violent crime and our belief in personal accountability (40). By continuing the methods the government currently has in place for the death penalty the country is to seem less advanced than other places in the world. Drehle also makes it known that the death penalty system in being questioned countrywide when he references lawsuits from Kentucky. The leading sentence of the article states, On Jan. 7, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a pair of Kentucky lawsuits challenging the lethal three-drug cocktail used in most U.S. executions (38). Research has proved that many executions are being carried out incorrectly due to the fact that [u]ntrained personnel are administering lethal injections (38).The author provides further credibility on the subject of the capital punishment system being a mistake from the very beginning. He writes, Justice Lewis Powell told a biographer that the vote he most regretted was the one he cast in 1987 to save capital punishment (40). The author uses this evidence to prove his argument that many hoped that capital punishment would be modified and perfected by now, however it has only become worse. Logos, such as the Drehles use of researched statistics, is used to prove the validity of the problems that accompany the death penalty. Drehle addresses the fact that by continuing the

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practice of the death penalty its clear that the United States believes in personal accountability. However, this purpose is defeated due to the fact that the practices are not enforced. Drehle writes, Even supporters of capital punishment cant admire a process in which fewer than 3 in 100 death sentences imposed in the U.S. are carried out in any given year (40). The justices systems continues sentencing people to the death penalty but now it is being found that most of these criminals are just sitting on death row like any normal prisoner serving a sentence. The author continues pointing out facts that leaves readers wondering what the point of even having the death penalty is. The system is failing more than it is being effective. These fallouts have been occurring all over the country. Drehle uses statistics he researched to prove his point. He explains that, Californias death row houses more than 660 prisoners, but no one has been executed in the state in nearly two years. Pennsylvania, with 226 inmates on death row, hasnt carried out a sentence since the 90s (40). The list continues on. In some, Drehle uses his research to argue that the United States is so reluctant to give up the death penalty but it is not even being used correctly or effectively. In the United States the capital punishment system has become one of the most wrecked and inconsistent practices of the country. Through the use of ethos and logos, author David Von Drehle explores both the importance and relevance of this issue. Many Supreme Court members agree with Drehles work and agree that the death penalty system of our government is severely damaged. According to how many years the system has been ineffective it is likely that capital punishment procedures are broken beyond repair unless the United States gives them up all together.

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Works Cited Drehle, David Von. "Death Penalty Walking." Times Magazine: 38-41. Print.