Also, the death penalty itself is a crime. The death penalty is murder, and two wrongs don’t make a right. There is no point in murdering people who have committed murder because then no one has been taught a lesson. The U.S. has successfully executed about 700 since 1976 when the death penalty was reinstated, and unfortunately, Kansas has been a death penalty state since 1994. There are currently thirty-six states, including Kansas, which allow capital punishment. Others, like Illinois, have slowed or temporarily discontinued the use of capital punishment because of innocent defendants.