The paper begins by presenting some background and statistics about capital punishment in the USA. The viewpoints of both
the proponents and the opponents of capital punishment are listed and problems with the use of capital punishment (such as pardoning leading to further crime, and innocent people being executed) are discussed. The paper explores public support of the death penalty and then turns to discuss the recent Washington DC sniper case and the possibility of capital punishment for the offenders. The controversiality of choice of location for the trial is looked at and the new anti-terrorism law is brought up. The paper concludes with some summation comments on capital punishment.