It is obviously the most severe form of criminal punishment. (Bedau1)

Capital punishment is a controversial way of dealing with violent

criminals. The main alternative to the death penalty is life in

prison. Capital punishment has been around for thousands of years as a

means of eradicating criminals. A giant debate started between

supporters and opposers of execution, over the morality and

effectiveness of the death penalty. The supporters claim that if you

take a life you should pay with your life or "an eye for an eye".

Opposers of the death penalty bring up the chance of sentencing the

innocent and how the death penalty is inhumane. The purpose of this

paper is to examine the process of capital punishment and the moral

viewpoints on the death penalty. The first evidence of capital

punishment is from Hammurabi's code, a book of Babylonian law, from

1700BC. The Bible mentions that execution should be used for many

crimes. (Bedau1) One example of the death penalty in the bible is

"Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death." (Exodus

penalty ever since the Quakers fought for reform in the 1700's.

chair was introduced in New York in 1890 and is now used in 24 states.

would be very difficult to link a drop in murders to knowledge of

the head and a leg. Pulses of 2000 volts are sent through his body for

that the defendant's rights were violated when he was arrested, that

Some common words found in the essay are:
Bedau1 Capital, Bible Whosoever, Morin Needles, Hampshire Washington, Supreme Court, Louisiana Texas, District Courts, Johnny Cochran, Bedau2 Contrary, death penalty, Courts Appeals, capital punishment, supreme court, death row, dealing violent criminals, bedau hugo, dealing violent, appeals process, bedau1 example, violent criminals, oppose death, inmates death row, oppose death penalty,
Approximate Word count = 1488
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)