Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is a legal process whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment

for a crime. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally "regarding the head" Arguments For Arguments commonly made for supporting the death penalty are:

To serve as example to other would-be criminals, to deter them from committing murder or terrorist acts. To punish the criminal for his/her act. To obtain retribution on behalf of the victims.

Countries that Retain the Death Penalty As of 2008 per Amnesty International, 58 countries, representing about one-third of all countries worldwide, retain the death penalty for ordinary capital crimes, including the United States, plus: Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Botswana, Chad, China, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, Equatorial Arguments Against Arguments commonly made to abolish the death penalty are:

Death constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment," which is prohibited by the 8th amendment to the US Constitution. Also, the various means used by the state to kill a criminal are cruel. The death penalty is used disproportionately against the poor, who cannot afford expensive legal counsel, as well as against racial, ethnic and religious minorities. The death penalty is applied arbitrarily and inconsistently. Wrongly convicted, innocent people have received death penalty sentences, and tragically, were killed by the state. A rehabilitated criminal can make a morally valuable contribution to society. Killing human life is morally wrong under all circumstances. Some faith groups, such as the Roman Catholic Church, oppose the death penalty as not being "pro-life."

As of 2008 per Amnesty International, 139 countries, representing two-thirds of all countries worldwide, have abolished the death penalty on moral grounds including: Albania, Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bhutan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote D'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Retribution First a reminder of the basic argument behind retribution and punishment:

all guilty people deserve to be punished only guilty people deserve to be punished guilty people deserve to be punished in proportion to the severity of their crime This argument states that real justice requires people to suffer for their wrongdoing, and to suffer in a way appropriate for the crime. Each criminal should get what their crime deserves and in the case of a murderer what their crime deserves is death.