There have been many controversies on the topic of capital punishment and its role within society. Capital punishment is also known as the death penalty. This is when a person has committed a crime that is punishable by death via fatal injection. When a person is convicted of a crime that is punishable by death, he or she is then placed on what is known as death row. This is the line, or waiting period, before the actual death sentence is administered. Many times while people are awaiting his or her capital punishment, there is a process or series of appeals that are filed in order to try to get that person off of death row. However, attorneys are not always successful and there are still people who are put to death.