The first established death penalty laws date back as far the Eighteenth Century B. under the reign of King Hammurabi of Babylon (DPIC). The United States has been using this form of punishment for centuries. For as long as it has been around, the death penalty has been opposed by many groups. Execution as punishment constantly brings into question whether or not this form of reprimand violates an individual's human rights. The death penalty is not an effective form of punishment, and its use comes with numerous negative effects. The entire purpose of the death penalty is to deter future crimes of similar nature from occurring. Studies have shown that capital punishment has no effect on the deterrence of future crimes and is no more effective than life imprisonment in discouraging vicious crimes. In addition, it has been estimated by several different state governments that a single death penalty case, from the point of arrest to execution, ranges from $1 million to $3 million, and could be as high as $7 million per case. Whereas an inmate sentenced to life incarceration with no parole would cost approximately $500,000 (The Progress Report). .
The death penalty also prevents those that are in need of help for mental disabilities from accessing the rehabilitation that is offered in our country. In the eyes of the law, mental illnesses are defined as "medical conditions that disrupt a person's thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning". Insanity is believed to be a severe form of mental illness and is addressed separately by the legal system. Inmates who are insane, or so out of touch with reality that they do not know right from wrong and cannot understand their punishment or the purpose of it, are exempt from execution. However, inmates who are mentally ill, but not insane, have no such exemption. Therefore, individuals with disorders such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder can be executed instead of spending their lives in prison getting help and understanding why their actions were immoral.
