Children are told to be innovative, to explore life and that their mistakes will teach them life lessons. While most children receive major punishments from their parents or guardians, a small number go beyond a minor offense and violate the law. The New Oxford American Dictionary states that the death penalty is "the penalty of execution, administered to one legally convicted of a capital crime." Capital crimes range from murder to drug trafficking. In the United States, the death penalty is primarily applied to first-degree murder, with crimes other than murder varying by state. “Currently, only 58 countries actively practice the death penalty, 96 countries having abolished it, the others having not used the death penalty for 10 years or only allowing death in exceptional circumstances. » (Death Penalty Information Center, nd) How does a child come to commit murder, does he deserve and understand death? To better understand the death penalty, one should know the five different methods that are applied; firing squad, hanging, gas chambers, electrocution and lethal injection. Lethal injection is the most common means of administering death, being authorized in 37 states. Nothing makes this form of punishment morally correct. In fact, it is cruel and unusual punishment, a rare inflection of pain. Until recent years, punishments have been exclusively lethal injections. There are many stories of victims catching fire while using the electric chair, gas leaks, and problems with drug injections. (Death Penalty Information Center, nd, Methods of Execution) Although the cost of drugs administered by lethal injection is 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. (April 8, 2002). End the death penalty now! Retrieved from https://www.msu.edu/~millettf/DeathPenalty/NCSC.org. (nd).Capital Punishment/Death Penalty FAQ. Retrieved from http://www.ncsc.org/topics/criminal/capital-punishment-the-death-penalty/faq.aspxTotenberg, N. (March 2, 2005). The Supreme Court ends the death penalty for juveniles. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4518051Wikipedia. (nd). Retrieved November 1, 2011, from Wikipedia website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roper_v._SimmonsLamourie, T. and Parkinson, D. (September 17, 2007). Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty: Toronto Patterson. Retrieved from http://ccadp.org/torontopatterson.htm