The death penalty can be traced as far back as to the Ancient laws of China, used as a punishment for crimes and the death penalty coded in the Roman Law of the Twelve Tablets in the 5th Century BC. As Britain influenced colonies around Europe and Asia, colonists that broke away from the British may have brought this with them. The first recorded execution in "America" was of George Kendall of Virginia in 1608 (some sources said 1607). He was accused of plotting to betray the British to the Spanish. The first legal execution was in 1622 of Daniel Frank for the crime of theft. Throughout history, death penalty laws and offenses have continuously changed, with various levels of strictness. Each state has their own rules against or for the death penalty, even today.
2. Is it more expensive to imprison someone or punish them with the death penalty?
Before any research on this question, easily, I thought it was much less expensive to use the death penalty than imprisoning them for life. However, I found I was completely incorrect. Though many states vary in costs for the death penalty, the death penalty is generally more expensive than life imprisonment. This is mainly because selecting members of the jury is a much longer process than other trials (because it takes months to be questioned on if he/she is for or against the death penalty), whereas a general murder trial may be completed in a couple of days. Death penalty cases are also longer because defendants have the opportunity to present additional information those of a murder trial cannot. With longer trials come more money, necessary to pay all members involved. Thus, it might actually be easier to imprison a criminal for life than to sentence them to death.
3. What other countries have the death penalty?
Countries across the world have various rules for the death penalty. The map below is a simpler way to show which countries may still use the death penalty. Countries in red have the death penalty, those in green use it under rare "special circumstances," those in orange have, but have not used it in at least 10 years, and countries in blue do not have this capital punishment. From this information, I wonder if people may consider this factor when deciding where they may want to live? Also, what may one conclude or infer about countries with or without the death penalty?
Sources: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/execution/readings/history.html
http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/costs-death-penalty
http://deathpenaltyblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/08/what-makes-the-death-penalty-s.html
http://ourtimes.wordpress.com/2009/05/29/executions-in-2008/
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/07/map-which-countries-use-the-death-penalty/241490/
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