An issue that has been constantly a problem to our society is to whether use the death penalty to deal with criminals. Whenever the death penalty is applied to a criminal, a colossal debate arises between the two social groups that support and disagree with such punishment. In these recent years, crime has become part of our society and many people are conscious that something fast should be done. Also, now many people live with constant fear of getting robed, or even killed while walking on the street, but the question here, that you might ask, is what method and actions should the government take to decrease crime? Many people said that the death penalty is an acceptable and effective way to eradicate crime. Today, the death penalty has been one of the best deterrents for crime in the United States; however, the main point of the death penalty is not to deterrent crime but to punish those that have committed outrageous crimes.
Since ancient times the death penalty has been the ultimate punishment for criminals across the world. During the 18th Century, King Hammurabi of Babylon codified the death penalty for twenty five different crimes. Also the Hittites, Athenians, and the Romans codified their laws with the death penalty to punish crimes that ranged from the "publication of libels and offensive songs to the determined murder of a man or a parent, as well as theft by a slave" (Reggio). However, today the government only punishes those that have committed crimes that range from treason to murder, and by doing so the government sends a message for those that want to commit a crime. .
The death penalty is use to punish those that have committed a crime, but also to make them pay the dept that they have created in the society. For example, in the Western, if someone murdered someone else, "the relatives of the murder victim would demand compensation in the form of the death of the murderer," and if this was not done, there would be a blood feud that would reach form "from full-scale wars to the destruction of entire tribes".
