Beginning of Essay
-Preface: Let it be noted now that this speech is very opinionated. I strongly believe that the Death Penalty is a form of punishment to be used when needed. Which opens up the question, when should it be used? That may be the breaking point in a lot of argumen ....

Middle of Essay
.... but I will stop here. It was August 3, the year was 1986. A man named Esquel Banda had just raped, stabbed and strangled a 74 year old widow by the name of Merle Laird in her own house. Banda then sucked the blood from the woman's mouth. Does that describe a kind, gentle man, who is not a threat to society? A man who values life or a man that deserves life when he seems so eager to destroy it? I certainly wouldn't think so. Some people believe that the death penalty is wrong, what do you think? Is it OK for a man to commit heinous murders but not OK for our valued legal system, who's outcomes depend on ordinary people like you and me, to decide ....