Stephanie LaCroix Professor Scott English 1A 31 October 2008 A Life for a Life? Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the killing of a person by judicial process as punishment for a crime. This practice is commonly used in many societies but is heavily debated as to whether it is morally and ethically acceptable. In the United States, it is left up to each state to decide whether or not to practice the death penalty and as of today, 38 of the 50 states permit capital punishment. The death penalty is usually applied to crimes involving first-degree murder but can also include other crimes such as treason and aggravated kidnapping depending on the laws of the state. The argument in favor of capital punishment should be based on justice and the nature of a moral community; this is the definition of a just action. People who commit the act of first-degree murder should be brought to justice. Being brought to justice requires that each person respect the life and liberty of others. Respecting the life and liberty of others means that we as United States citizens have freedom of thought and expression and equality before others. Those who commit vicious crimes can destroy the basis on which a moral community rests, and should have the fear of losing their rights to citizenship and even their lives. The death penalty has been documented as far back as Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon which listed 25 crimes in which, if committed, a person would be sentenced to death. The earliest recorded execution in America happened in 1608 in Jamestown, Virginia when Captain George Kendall was sentenced to death for being a spy for Spain. The death penalty continued to serve as punishment until 1972, when it was suspended by the Supreme Court in the ruling of Furman v. Georgia stating that the existing death penalty laws were no longer valid. This ruling was held until 1976 when the ruling of Gregg v. Georgia reinstated the...