Capital punishment is the legal infliction of death as punishment for violating criminal law. It has existed for thousands of years and continues to execute people today. Capital punishment is inhumane and in some cases sentences innocent people to death. It is obviously the most severe form of criminal punishment. Being morally unjust, its purpose has no meaning. Killing a person for their misdeeds does not help our society in any way. Capital punishment must be abolished. Capital punishment originates in antiquity. The earliest evidence of capital punishment comes from the Code of Hammurabi, a book of Babylonian law, from 1700 BC. Hammurabi himself suggested: "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross. This is a form of capital punishment. The Bible talks about capital punishment. An example of capital punishment in the Bible is “Whoever strikes a man so that he dies will be put to death” (Exodus 21:12). He also suggests stoning a woman if she has unmarried sexual relations. By the end of the 15th century, England had recognized 7 serious crimes that deserved the death penalty. During the 1800s, more than 200 crimes were recognized as punishable by death. Many countries in the world today have applied the death penalty in the past. Some grounds for the death penalty include betraying the king or queen, going against one's religion, cheating on one's spouse, theft, murder, burglary, rape, and arson. Furthermore, in early Egypt one could be put to death for revealing the location of sacred burial sites. Some methods of capital punishment include crucifixion, stoning, drowning, burning, impalement, beheading, and the electric chair. Today capital punishment is carried out by gas or lethal injection, electrocution, hanging or shooting. Since 2000, 72 countries no longer use the death penalty for any crime. 13 other countries have authorized it only for exceptional crimes. It is reserved for individuals who commit the most violent or serious crimes, such as murder or treason. None of the Western European countries use the trend of capital punishment, nor do most of the South American countries. Asian and Islamic nations tend to practice capital punishment. Most countries in Africa, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo also use it.