According to www.deathpenalityinfo.org, the first legal death penalty ever issued was on June 25, 1790 following the murder committed by Thomas Bird in Maine. Since then, the United States has executed a total of 340 people, 336 men and 4 women. To date, the death penalty is the highest form of capital punishment and is mainly imposed on those who have committed murder crimes. People who have committed murder are arrested and tried. A recent example of a crime that can carry the death penalty is the case of California v. Scott Peterson. Scott Peterson was arrested for the murder of his pregnant wife. He is currently on trial and awaits a sentence of life in prison without parole or the death penalty. It is up to a jury of six men and six women to decide his fate. Many legal and moral questions are raised when discussing the death penalty. I was fortunate enough to hear a representative speak about these issues at a conference held by Housatonic Community College this winter. The speaker said he was extremely against the death penalty, but highlighted both sides positively. For example, proceeding to put a man to death through the punishment provided by law is in fact murder. Just as man can create injustice by killing someone else, the government is creating the same injustice by killing that man; however, it provides a sense of justice to the victim's family. Prosecuting a murderer or alleged murderer costs taxpayers a lot. It is a known fact that death penalty trials, on average, can cost taxpayers millions of dollars; furthermore, executing a guilty murderer costs even more money than sentencing him to life in prison without bail. Many people see... middle of paper... worried, every death is justified. Law officials, as well as many people, feel safer knowing that a murder may not be committed simply because of the fear that the death penalty instills. Only the truly mentally ill refuse to fear the idea of ​​being executed by the government. The death penalty has come a long way over the years to become more humane, despite the idea of ​​killing another human being. It was originally a painful hanging. Years later it was changed to death by electric chair, and now recently it was changed to death by lethal injection. The reasons for condoning the death penalty are justice, revenge, a feeling of justification for the victim's family, and the possible prevention of another murder. It may be an inhumane act, but the idea of ​​being put to death by the government may have prevented possible murders over the years.