Children are told to be innovative, to explore life and that mistakes will teach them life lessons. While for most children the most severe punishments are meted out to parents and guardians, a small number go beyond a minor crime and break the law. The New Oxford American Dictionary states that the death penalty is “the punishment of execution, administered to someone lawfully convicted of a capital crime.” Capital crimes range from murder to drug trafficking. In the United States, the death penalty is applied primarily to first-degree murder, with crimes other than murder varying by state. “Currently, only 58 countries actively practice the death penalty, 96 countries have abolished it, the remainder have not used it for 10 years or allow it only in exceptional circumstances.” (Death Penalty Information Center, n.d.) How does a child get to the position of committing murder, does he deserve and understand death? To better understand the death penalty one should be informed about the five different methods that are administered; firing squad, hanging, gas chambers, electrocution and lethal injection. Lethal injection is the most common way of administering death, being authorized in 37 states. Nothing makes this form of punishment morally correct. In fact, this is a cruel and unusual punishment, a rare inflection of pain. Only in recent years has the punishment been exclusively lethal injection. There are numerous stories of victims catching fire while using the electric chair, gas leaks and problems during drug injections. (Death Penalty Information Center, n.d., Methods of Execution)While costs for drugs administered by lethal injection are minimal, the cost......middle of paper......09, Aug. 3). Is the death penalty unconstitutional? Retrieved from http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=1715Millett, Frederick C. (2002, April 8). End the death penalty now! Retrieved from https://www.msu.edu/~millettf/DeathPenalty/NCSC.org. (n.d.). Frequently asked questions about capital punishment/death penalty. Retrieved from http://www.ncsc.org/topics/criminal/capital-punishment-the-death-penalty/faq.aspxTotenberg, N. (2005, March 2). The Supreme Court abolishes the death penalty for juveniles. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4518051Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2011, from the Wikipedia website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roper_v._SimmonsLamourie, T., & Parkinson, D. (2007, September 17). Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty: Toronto Patterson. Retrieved from http://ccadp.org/torontopaterson.htm