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Capital Punishment is in essence taking a human life in exchange for some wrong doing committed by a person that has been deemed to be so offensive to society it warrants the ending of the accuser’s life. Capital Punishment is not a simple issue that can easily be judged in black and white non-negotiable terms. There are always two sides to an issue, but capital punishment seems to be a multi-sided topic, that is capable of being assessed and scrutinized in compound ways from multiple viewpoints. Some of the social and monetary costs are obvious, however a closer inspection reveals costs to society that are not easily seen but must not be ignored. There are some people who would look at the death penalty as a necessity, and argue that the benefits to society warrant its continued use. However the other side would point out that there are numerous layers to the issue, some moral and ethical, and that we lose much more than we gain by preserving what could be considered an archaic example of our nations violent past. Capital Punishment has a history in the United States that includes public executions, accusations of the death penalty being cruel and unusual punishment, protests for and against capital punishment, and most recen