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DEATH PENALTY The criminal law prohibits taking life, liberty, or property and specific punishments are threatened to those who break the law. The intention of punishment is to deter from doing what the law prohibits. There are several types of punishments. One is rehabilitation. This form of government brings about changes in the character of the convict in order to produce law-abiding behavior upon release. A second punishment is incapacitation. This is isolation from society, confinement or prison. . Imprisonment and death are likely to affect the crime rate by deterring others. A third purpose and form of punishment is justice. Justice punishes persons guilty of crime according to what is observed and justice should not punish the innocent victims. All these forms eventually lead to the final form of punishment. While rehabilitation, incapacitation, and justice branch off of punishment in general, the death penalty is the final resort. The first established death penalty laws date back as far as the eighteenth century. Sentences were carried out by crucifying, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impailment. In tenth century A.D., hanging became the usual method. In sixteenth century, common methods o