The earliest historical records contain evidence of capital punishment. It was mentioned in the Code of Hammurabi (1750 BC). The Bible prescribed death as the penalty for more than 30 different crimes, ranging from murder to fornication.

English Law recognized seven major crimes by the end of the 15th century: treason, murder, larceny, burglary, rape and arson. By 1800, more than 200 capital crimes were recognized, and as a result, 1000 or more persons were sentenced to death each year although most sentences were commuted by royal pardon.

Such severe punishment and torture began to die out in the 18th century when a democratic political philosophy and humanitarian movement grew in strength. The number of offenses punishable by death was reduced in all leading countries. Also, penalties involving torture disappeared with the idea that punishment and death should be swift and humane, whether by guillotine, hanging, the garrote, or th

The guillotine became a popular form of execution in France in 1789, when Dr. Joseph Guillotin proposed that all criminals be executed by the same method and that torture should be kept to a minimum. Decapitation was thought to be the least painful and the most humane method of execution at the time.

Thirty-four states use lethal injection as their chosen form of execution. Since 1976, 406 prisoners have died by lethal injection in the United States.

Powerful sectors of the country arise and made their stand. As usual, these two sectors are the Central Government and the Religious sectors.

Electrocution produces visibly destructive effects on the body, as the internal organs are burned. The prisoner usually leaps forward against the restraints when the switch is thrown. The body changes color, swells and may even catch fire. The prisoner may also defecate, urinate and vomit blood.

Today with a greater interest in humanitarianism, capital punishment has become less gruesome than the beheadings and torture that were common place centuries before. Lethal injection, electrocution, and lethal gas have become the preferred methods of execution in the United States, mostly because these methods appear to be less offensive to the public, and more humane for the prisoner.

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