Both his father and his uncle had been executioners to, so it was only natural when he as 13 years old dropped out of school and got apprenticed to his uncle. He was a very enthusiastic kid and very thorough with his job. Later he began travelling to other countries, where he officiated executions. He once executed 27 people in a 24 hours period in post-war Germany.
At home Pierrepoint was a normal guy, who liked singing Irish ballads and joking about all sorts of things, but one the thing he never did, was to bring his work with him home, he didn’t even discuss it with his wife.
3)
In 1972 the Supreme Court declared the death penalty as forbidden, but in 1976 it was taken into use again. Today, according to the map, there is only 14 states without death penalty and 36 states with death penalty, but only 13 states has actually carried out executions.
Since 1976 a total of 121 executions has been carried out. The vast majority of these executions have taken place in the southern states. There are probably several reasons for this, but I think the main causes are racism and bad legal advice. It’s a fact that if a black person kills a white, the chances that he will be sentenced to death penalty is much bigger, than if it goes the opposite way
It’s also a fact that many of the death sentenced haven’t got the opportunities to get a good lawyer, which means a fair trial.
I wouldn’t say that I’m for or against death penalty, because some of the guys on the death row has done terrible things, and would probably strike back if the were put on the street again. But on the other hand if you lock them up forever, it wouldn’t do any good either. So maybe death penalty is the right thing in some cases.
Recently there has been a debate going, about that there has been executed innocent people, which of course is a serious problem. From a legal point of view, I think it’s a big mistake to sentence someone to death, without having very clear evidence that not only indicates, but also states that the prosecuted person is guilty.
I don’t think the US will ever get rid of death penalty, because the majority of the American population is for the death penalty. I don’t think we will see death penalty in Denmark, because the crime we are dealing with in Denmark is way different from the one they are experiencing in the US.
