The death penalty was reinstated in the United States in 1976 and the first to be executed was Gary Gilmore by a firing squad in Utah on January 17, 1977. His last words “Let’s Do It” made him a legend. Including Gilmore, 1,294 convicted murderers have been put to death. Of those executed only 12 were female. Almost 87% died by lethal injection. Executions were held in 34 different states. Texas leads the way with 482. Four times the number of any other state. My dad was a homicide detective and even growing up with a guy who solved murders I never could get my hands around the death penalty. Sometimes the under privileged just don’t get the competent legal help and there always is a doubt, especially in cases where the person accused pleads not guilty. Also, it costs millions to execute someone compared to keeping them in prison for life, normally 12 to 20 years of appeals. Most would die in prison anyhow. A recent project at the Columbia Law School almost certainly proved that Carlos Deluna was wrongly convicted and executed in 1989. Deluna was supposed to have stabbed a woman in a gas station robbery in Corpus Christi. Thanks to a botched investigation there was critical evidence that was either missed or unreliable. Another man, now deceased, bragged about being the murderer. It almost certain now that Texas executed an innocent man. It’s time to rethink the death penalty. It costs too much tax payer money and, with nearly 1,300 executions in the last 35 years, I wonder how many others like Carlos Deluna were put to detah because of shoddy investigations.Wrongful Death Penalty