Widespread use of capital punishment changed very little throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period. During the reign of King Henry VIII in the first half of the sixteenth century in England, there where over 350 capital crimes resulting in over 70,000 executions (Forer 1

The reinstatement of capital punishment has not only saved police officers lives but protected the lives of innocent people as well. The comparison of murder rates between states that enforce the death penalty and the states that do not is staggering. As of 1999, the state of Delaware executed more people per capita (1/87,500) than any other state. In comparison, Washington, D.C. which does not allow capital punishment has a murder rate of 80 per 100,000 versus Delaware's murder rate of 5 per 100,000-sixteen times lower than Washington, D.C. (Bureau).

Although only a little over two-thirds of the states enforce capital punishment, statistics show that it has a strong place in our society as a means of deterring criminal acts as well as protection from criminals and many believe as just retribution for criminal acts like murder. The statistics from the US Department of Justice from the 1970's to current day show how capital punishment acts as a deterrent. During the moratorium in the 1970's, murder rates jumped to an all time high of 10.2 deaths per 100,000 people per year. The only time in US history that death rates were comparable was in the 1920's when the murder rate was 10.0 per 100,000 people per year. Since the reinstatement of capital punishment, the murder rate continued to decrease to the current day rate of 5.7 per 100,000 people per year. There was also a decrease in the amount of violent crimes during the same time frames. Violent crimes reached an all time high in the late 1970's at the rate of 52 per 100,000 that has currently decreased to the rate of 28 per 100,000 (Bureau).

Fortunately, these are not the only statistics that have

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