Capital Punishment has been part of the criminal justice system since the
earliest of times. The Babylonian Hammurabi Code(ca. 1700 B.C.) decreed death for crimes as minor as the fraudulent sale of beer(Flanders 3). Egyptians could be put to death for disclosing the location of sacred burial
sites(Flanders 3). However, in recent times opponents have shown the death penalty to be racist, barbaric, and in violation with the United States Constitution as '...cruel and unusual punishment.' In this country, although laws governing the application of the death penalty have undergone many changes since biblical times, the punishment endures , and controversy has never been greater.
A prisoner's death wish cannot grant a right not otherwise possessed.
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