Who are we, each of us, to decide whether the man standing next to us, murderer or otherwise, is "no longer fit to be among us"? Capital punishment is used for crimes such as treason, murder, terrorism, kidnapping, and even for perjury that caused the execution of an innocent person. For years there has been a debate about whether the death penalty is right or not. And more than two-thirds of the world's countries have banned any form of government from practicing the death penalty. In the Eighth Amendment of our Constitution it states that cruel and unusual punishments, such as death, shall not be inflicted upon a man. The inclusion of this little statement in one of the documents upon which our country was built is proof of man's ability to recognize that there is indeed a line to cross when it comes to punishment. Yet, somehow, the man's actions show a complete disregard for this part of our Constitution. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life. If this is the conclusion most of our society comes to, then why do they teach their children differently? From day one, it is imprinted in most young minds that it is not acceptable to hit someone just because they hit you. So when suddenly, at the age of eighteen, a person in the United States can be accused of murder and put to death, it is confusing to wonder what has changed. It is against all human rights to deny any man or woman their life. In addition to the moral reasons for abolishing capital punishment, there are always the possibilities of wrongful conviction or mental illness. There is no evidence that the death penalty is a preventative measure against murder, so why go to the extent of killing another human being? Over the last 38 years... middle of paper... death -penalty-and-innocencehttp://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/death-penalty/us-death-penalty-facts/death- penalty-costhttp://www.deathpenalty.org/article.php ?id=53http://crime.about.com/od/death/i/dpissue1.htmhttp://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/crimes-punishable- death-penalty#BJShttp://deathpenalty.procon.org/view .answers.php?questionID=001000http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/deathpenalty.htmhttp://www.openbible. info/topics/eye_for_an_eyehttp://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocence -e-pena-di-deathhttp://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.source.php?sourceID=006946https://death.rdsecure.org/ article.php?id=42http://www.amnestyusa.org/our -work/issues/death-penalty/us-death-penalty-facts/death-penalty-costhttp://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/ story?id=3259389&page=1http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/lack -avvocati-che-bloccano-ricorsi-cause-capitali