Capital punishment was not restricted to just murder and other serious crimes but to a variety of wrongdoing. There were also various forms of punishments. Forms included crucifixions, which dated back to B.C. and continued after the death of Christ, stoning, drowning, burning at the stake, as Joan of Ark was, impaling, beheading, and seppuku, which was, forced suicide. More recent forms are lethal gas or injection, electrocution, hanging, and shooting. These newer methods did not come about until the late eighteenth century. Executions were also conducted differently than now. Executions were made public and involved cruel methods. Punishment by death and executions were a routine part of the administration of law and no one questioned it.

It was not until the era, known as the Age of Enlightenment, in the eighteenth century that the first significant movement to abolish the death penalty arose. The Age of Enlightenment encouraged people to be more independent, to start thinking on their own, and havi

In closing the saying eye for an eye dates back to biblical times and many people still feel this way. The death penalty has gone through many changes and through many centuries and still has a long future ahead of it. Their will never be a right answer.

death. Yet, the public keeps pressing for execution at an earlier age than sixteen.

Two thirds of Americans support capital punishment, which has steadily fallen from its peak of 80% in the mid 1990's. And most recent statistics from the justice departments shows the death penalty sentences passed by American courts has dropped. The number of executions performed each year is also dropping. Federal and State governments combined executed 66 inmates in 2001, 85 in 2000, and 98 in 1999. It is the first time the number of executions has dropped for two consecutive years

Parens patriae is the traditional role of the state as the guardian of juveniles, acting to promote the welfare of the children. Opponents feel the state fails at their role of parens patriae when juveniles are sentenced to

As of January 1, 2001 there were 73 juvenile offenders on death row, an increase of 121% from the 33 juvenile offenders on death row in 1983. These 74 juvenile offenders account for 2% of the total death row population of about 3,700. Texas has the largest death row for juvenile offenders. Texas accounts for 26(33%) of the total 74. 75% of juvenile offenders are 17 years old and 2/3 are minority. 83% of their victims were adults, 2/3 were white, and 1/2 were females. Therefore, the paradigm case of the juvenile offender on death row is that of a 17 year old African American or Hispanic male whose victim is a white adult. All of the juvenile offenders on death row are male and had committed murder.

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Approximate Word count = 1508
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)