The death penalty was enforced in almost every ancient civilization, including the Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Hebrews, Persians, Greeks, and Romans. Many of these civilizations provided cruel and harsh deaths for crimes that may be considered of minor offense today. For example under the code of Hammurabi if someone was caught selling beer , they would be killed (Encyclopedia Americana). If one accidentally sat on the King's throne they would be sentenced to death under the Per

Michigan became the first state to abolish the death penalty in the U.S. in 1847, but not all states followed their example. In 1972 the Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional in regards to the eighth amendment. In the case Furman v. Georgia, a black man named William Furman was found guilty of murdering a white man and was sentenced to death by Georgia law. The Legal Defense Fund of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) asked for an appeal to the Supreme Court on Furman's behalf. The NAACP lawyers argued that since the sate law of Georgia gave "the jury free rein to impose capital punishment" (Patrick, John) that the jury's decision could be unfair. The NAACP also argued that it was much more likely for a black man to be put on death row than a white man if the same crime was committed by both men. The Supreme Court decided, (in a 5-4 vote), that the death penalty was unconstitutional because "it led to random and unfair decisions"(Patrick, John) about who should receive the death penalty. Supreme Court Justices William Brennan and Thurgood Marshall said (in separate opinions) that the death penalty was morally wrong and is always a violation of the eighth amendment. The other three justices who voted with Marshall and Brennan simply said that the death penalty was unconstitutional due to the lack of fairness within the state laws, in order for capital punishment to be considered constitutional these laws would have to be revised. For almost four and a half years not a single execution took place in the U.S. due to the decision in this case.

The most frequently used argument in favor of the death penalty is that it deters, or prevents, a person from committing crimes in fear that they will die. Opponents of the death penalty argue against this theory with some key points. The first is that with today's means of executions, such as lethal injection, a person is not afraid to die due to the fact that it is relatively quick and painless. They also argue that since the death penalty is not mandatory but rather a discretionary punishment, the person may believe that he/she has a good chance of being sentenced to life in prison instead of the death penalty. Opponents also argue the fact that there is no real increase or decrease in the amount of 1st degree murders within states that use the death penalty and states that have abolished it. Another argument used by Proponents of the death penalty is that is a legal way of getting retribution for the loss of a loved one. Opponents say that this can not possibly be true since the criminal is rarely executed the same way in which they killed their victim. For example if the victim was brutally stabbed to death, his murderer will not be stabbed to death as he was, instead he will have a peaceful death. Proponents say that the term retribution does not mean revenge but instead it is a relief for the public in knowing that the criminal is dead and can never again commit such a horrible crime. The economy has also played a role in the debates about the death penalty. Proponents say that on the average it is four times cheaper to execute the prisoner rather than to let them live in prison for life. When the prisoner is executed, then the tax payers no longer have to support his cost of living in the prisons, for example food and heat. Opponents say that one can not put a price on a human life, that the human life is priceless no matter who it is. They also argue that the death penalty is not exactly a cheap way of dealing with the crime. Usually a person who has been sentenced to death will appeal it several times to a higher court, and the tax payers must usually pay for a public defender to defend the defendant. They also point out that the prisoner is not immediately executed but instead will wait on death row for average of eleven years before being executed. This is also very costly but in the long run it is usually more economica

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