There is one question that has always brought about controversy.
Should capital punishment be used as a way of disciplining criminals? Over
the past twenty years, there has been an enormous increase in violent crimes.
It seems logical that a person is less likely to commit a given act if by doing so
he will suffer swift and certain punishment of a horrible kind. As most
Americans agree, death is the only appropriate punishment for such crimes.
In ancient times' executions were not uncommon. Even the Bible teaches
capital punishment. It states, “Who so sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his
blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man” (Bible). In ancient times
a set of laws were written which specified many crimes punishable by capital
punishment. These laws were the Code of Hammurabi. Some of the
punishable crimes mentioned included adultery, robbery witchcraft, and
murder. During the Middle Ages, the Church assumed the responsibility of
administering punishments. During the late 1700’s the death penalty steadily
grew in acceptance. Over 200 crimes were punishable by death at the
beginning of the 1800’s. There were just as many methods used to execute
wrong-doers as there were crimes. Some of the techniques used included
beheading, stoning, drowning, hanging, crucifying, and burying people alive.
Also used were many nontraditional forms of execution. One type of execution
utilized elephants to crush the criminal's head on a stone block.
As times changed, so did the death penalty. Laws aimed at abolishing
the death penalty began to evolve at the turn of the century. Even with the
changes made, the effectiveness of capital punishment stayed right on track.
The crimes punishable by death became more specific, while some were
eradicated completely. For example, there are different types of capital
murder that have been specifically defined, but vary from one jurisdiction to
another. These include murder carried out during the commission of another
felony, murder of a peace officer, corrections employee, or firefighter engaged
in the performance of official duties, murder by an inmate serving a life
sentence, and murder for hire (Contract Murder). Other crimes worthy of
death include espionage by a member of the Armed Forces (communication of
information to a foreign government), tampering where death results by a
witness, and death resulting from aircraft hijacking. While hangings and
firing squads remained in use, many forms of execution were done away with.
Methods such as electrocution, lethal gas, and lethal injection soon replaced the
annulled ones. As with almost everything, there were exceptions made. Some
states the prohibited the execution of anyone mentally retarded.
In 1901, Colorado made it a law that capital punishment would not be used if
the accused was convicted only on circumstantial evidence.
The American public has long been favorably disposed toward capital
punishment for convicted murderers, and that support continues to grow. In a
1981 Gallup Poll, two-thirds of Americans voiced general approval of the
death penalty. That support rose to 72 percent in 1985, to 76 percent in 1991,
and to 80 percent in 1994 (Moore, 1994:5). &nb...


Hammurabi Main Biography
Hammurabi (reigned 1792-1750 B.C.) was a Babylonian king. One of the outstanding rulers of early antiquity, he is especially known as a lawgiver, the author of the code which bears his name.
Nothing is known of the early life of Hammurabi. His name, sometimes written Khammurapikh, is West Semitic, and he was the sixth ruler of the Amorite dynasty founded by Shumu-Abum in 1894 B.C. On his accession Hammurabi inherited a kingdom of moderate size, one of a number of Mesopotamian city-states.
The first years of Hammurabi's reign were spent in consolidating his rule and in diplomatic maneuvers which strengthened his position; in alliance with Rim-Sin, king of neighboring Larsa, he repelled the Elamites from the eastern frontier, but in his thirtieth year he turned against his former ally; Rim-Sin capitulated, and Hammurabi became master of the south. He then conquered the kingdom of Mari, and in 1759 B.C. that city was razed by his orders. Eshnunna and Assyria soon fell to him as well.
These successes established Hammurabi as the leading power in western Asia. He controlled the trade routes to the west and may even have campaigned beyond the Euphrates, though the once popular identification of Hammurabi with "Amraphel, King of Shinar" (Genesis 14:9), does not nowadays find credence. His organization of the captured territories is known from letters he sent to his officials and the governors of provinces; these show him as an able administrator who supervised in person every aspect of his government.

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