Have you ever thought about whether the person next to you is a murderer or a rapist? If so, what would you want from the government if the person killed someone you know? Should they receive the death penalty? Murderers and rapists should be punished for the crimes they commit and should pay the price for their wrongdoings. Having the death penalty in our society is humane; it helps solve the problem of overcrowding and gives relief to the families of the victims who have had to suffer an event such as murder. The death penalty has existed since the time of Jesus Christ. Executions have been recorded from 1600 to the present day. Since about 1620, executions per year have increased in the United States. There was a steady increase until the 1930s; subsequently the death penalty dropped to zero in the 1970s and then steadily increased. US citizens have said that the death penalty is unconstitutional because it is considered a "cruel and unusual" punishment (Amnesty International). In the 1970s, executions per year dropped between zero and one, then began to rise again in the 1980s. In 2000 there were nearly one hundred executions in the United States (News Batch). On June 29, 1972, the death penalty was suspended because the existing laws were no longer convincing. However, four years after that, several cases occurred in Georgia, Florida and Texas, where lawyers wanted the death penalty. This established new laws in these states and the Supreme Court subsequently decided that the death penalty was constitutional under the Eighth Amendment (Amnesty International). Some say sending murderers to death row is inhumane because these people deserve the right to live. This is wrong because they have given up their right to live for the horrible and heinous crimes they committed. There was also the problem of overcrowding in jails and prisons. Some say so