Most of the democratic countries of the world have abolished capital punishment. Indeed, it was only recently (2005) that the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to sentence a person to death for a crime he or she committed while younger than 18. For older offenders, however, the United States continues to execute convicted criminals. Why is capital punishment still practiced in this nation? If other countries had America’s crime rate, would their citizens support capital punishment? Should we draw the line according to age or severity of the crime?
