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For most crimes committed in the United States a fine, sentence of time in jail or execution is the punishment. However, the death penalty is the most questionable punishment. Is it morally right? Is it effective in deterring crime, primarily murders? Weather or not you agree if it is moral or not, one issue remains. The death penalty is not an effective way to prevent crime. The death penalty has existed as long as humans have existed. The quote "an eye for an eye" is found in the Bible. In the middle ages fines, public humiliation and imprisonment were appropriate punishments for all crimes, and death penalty for all murders. In the United States alone there have been 4047 executions since 1930, and 188 were from 1977-1996. The death penalty is an expensive punishment, since 1976 the united states have spent 700 million dollars in it. Methods of the death penalty include lethal injection, gas chamber, electric chair, hanging and