Suffocation. Electrocution. Four bullets to the heart. Chemicals coursing through the bloodstream. Rope burns and a broken neck.

These are all ways to die.

But are they ways to deter crime? Are they humane ways to get revenge? Are they efficient ways of punishment?

Yes, yes and yes, according to the 38 states in America that now use capital punishment.

However, evidence to the contrary is staggering.

A study conducted in 1988 for the United Nations came up with an unequivocal conclusion: “This research has failed to provide scientific proof that executions have a greater deterrent effect than life imprisonment. Such proof is unlikely to be forthcoming. The evidence as a whole still gives no positive support to the deterrent hypothesis.”

And why should there be any connection? To a killer calculating how to claim his next victim, or to a teen-ager desperately snatching a gun to defend his honor, considering the punishment is simply not a step in the process of violence.

The next argument is “a painless death.” Hmm … remember Pedro Medina? You probably don’t, but the onlookers at Florida State Prison on March 25, 1997, will have the image burned into their memories forever.

Medina, sentenced to die for murdering a school teacher, was strapped firmly into “Old Sparky,” Florida’s inmate-constructed electric chair, when he was hit with the standard 2000 volts of electricity.

Everything seemed fine (for an execution), until there was a malfunction, and the mask covering Medina’s face started to flame.

Foot-long blue and orange tongues shot out from his head, and the vapors of his singed flesh filled the air. As the witnesses waited uncomfortably, he died, punished despite requests for clemency from the pope and the victim’s mother.

And inhumane doesn’t even begin to describe the United States when it comes to the death penalty.

America, the self-proclaimed leader of the free world and the earth’s policeman, is one of only six countries to execute juveniles, according to a recent article in TIME magazine.

The others? Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Nigeria and Yemen. Not the sort of folks we brag about hanging around with.

In fact, the United States has executed six juveniles in the ’90’s — more than any other country, according to the article.

Finally, there are the supposed millions of dollars saved by the death penalty.

It seems like common sense: kill ’em quick and spend less, right?

Try doubling the cost. That was the conclusion of a study by the New York State Defenders Association.

In Maryland, death costs 42 percent more than life in prison.

And in Florida, each execution consumes 3.2 million taxpayer dollars, six times more than a life sentence, according to the Miami Herald.

So who’s going to stand up with the next faulty argument to be shot down?

So-called “pro-life” Gov. Terry Branstad is giving it another try this year.

And why shouldn’t he? He’s not a legislator with constituents who oppose capital punishment, and it’s his last term. He won’t be around to endure the searing heat of failure.

---

Luke DeKoster is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication from Hull.