The American Heritage Dictionary defines capital punishment as 'the penalty of death for the commission of crime.' The death sentence has been applied since ancient times as punishment for crimes ranging from petty theft to murder. In 1976, U.S. states began creating a bifurcated trial procedure that would legally allow imposing the sentence of death. The states did so in response to the 1972 (Furman vs. Georgia) Supreme court decision which ruled that death penalty …showed first 75 words of 1903 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1903 total…Jennifer C. and Ogloff, James R.P., 'Capital Punishment: Arguments for Life and Death', Reprint from the Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, Vol. 28: 1 January, 1996. 2. Miller, Robert K., The Informed Argument, (1986). 3. New International Version, Life Application Bible, (1991). 4. Kaminer, Wendy, 'It's All The Rage; Crime and Culture', (1995). 5. Bedau, Hugo Adam, 'The Case Against the Death Penalty', IRC, gopher.nyc.pip...sues/death/case_against. 6. The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1995. 'Capital Punishment: Murder in Disguise?'