“An eye for an eye makes us all blind, doesn't it? Capital punishment is very expensive in the United States. The death penalty can be unjust and result in the death of innocent people. The death penalty must be abolished because it constitutes an ineffective punishment. There are unfair trials and many innocent people have been killed. Putting people to death costs more than sending them to prison for the rest of their lives. Capital punishment does not affect change. Capital punishment is the legal authorization to kill someone who has committed a crime. The earliest date the death penalty was introduced was in the 18th century BC, the Hittite Code of the 14th century BC and the Draconian Code of Athens of the 7th century BC. These codes opened the death penalty to anyone who committed a crime. Some death penalties in the Roman law of the Twelve Tablets were crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, and burning alive. Britain has also used capital punishment for crimes. In the 10th century, people were hanged. When King Henry was in power, as many as 72,000 people were executed. Some methods of execution during this time were boiling, burning, and beheading. You could have been executed for marrying a Jew, for treason, and for not confessing to a crime. Capital punishment in Britain influenced America. When Europeans settled in America, they introduced capital punishment. It began to spread from colony to colony. The 1960s brought new obstacles to the legalization of capital punishment. The Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments stated that capital punishment was illegal. In the early 1960s, some people said the death penalty was cruel and unconstitutional...... middle of paper ...... hurt or perhaps contribute positively (deathpenalty.org). Some people worry about early release. However, states that have used life without parole say it works. For example, in the 25 years that California has used this punishment, no person has ever been released from prison. Another alternative could be for people to serve prison time while participating in programs aimed at helping and rehabilitating them. In conclusion, there are different ways to approach the death penalty, the way the United States does it today is not effective enough. Sometimes innocent people are killed as a result of wrongful convictions and insufficient evidence. It also costs taxpayers in different states a lot of money. There is no evidence that capital punishment affects change. Not everyone killed during this process can return, so there is no way to change this..