The death penalty is an odd and painful kind of punishment. It denies a wrongdoer his or her essential dignity as a human being. No matter how bad a person becomes, no matter how terrible he or she is, people must never cease to regard a person’s worth by executing him or her. Death penalty treats the members of the human race as non-humans or as objects to be toyed with and discarded at any time. Retentionists would respond about this confusing concept of the death penalty by saying that, the death penalty is a more fitting punishment for one who kills in cold blood. But imprisonment without parole should serve as an alternative to the death penalty, and should be given enough and serious consideration. The death penalty should be stopped and must be prohibited (Pojman and Reiman 72). This essay’s main agenda or main aim is to support the argument that the death penalty should be abolished. In the research, there will be proofs to support that use of the death penalty as a form punishment does not deter crime. Also the research will look at the origin of the use of the death penalty as a form of punishment, and will give the reasons why this form of punishment should be stopped. What is the meaning of the death penalty? The death penalty or capital punishment is a legal process whereby a person is sentenced to death for a crime he or she has committed. The actual process of killing the person is called execution. The death penalty tends to brutalize and disregard society and thus it should be completely banned (Johnson and Zimring 289).   The death penalty was first used in Babylon for various crimes at least 3700 years ago, and was also used in many other parts in the world. Some countries imposed it for terrible crimes, while others imposed it on very minor offenses, for example under the Roman law of the twelve tablets in the 5th century BC, the death penalty was administered for crimes like publishing of insulting songs and also disturbing the peace of the city. Another example is under the Greece Draconian legal code in the seventh century, where the death penalty was a punishment for every crime (Kronenwetter 11). In a number of ancient societies, the death penalty was used to punish people who committed crimes against the community and religious leaders. The death penalty also served as punishment for other crimes such as robbery, rape, and murder committed against individuals. Rather than being conducted by the legal systems, punishments were carried out by families, clans, and victims in public. According to Kronenwetter, “execution grounds were set up in spacious town squares or in jail yards……ordinary citizens were not only allowed but encouraged to watch wrongdoers pay for their crimes” (12) with an aim of discouraging those that had plans of committing offenses. The relatively frequent use of the death penalty for many crimes in many countries in the ancient times was because there was nothing in these countries that would have served as the modern prison. In modern times however, the death penalty is sparingly used, and those that use them do so for very serious crimes. America has been known to use this form of punishment very much in the modern times (Kronenwetter 11). Why should death penalty be abolished? Throughout history, people have been executed for many reasons and often political reasons. The two main reasons for the use of the death penalty have been on the grounds of deterrence and retribution. The death penalty has been carried out in different ways, like lethal injection, cutting off the criminal’s head, or even electrocution. However, instead of helping in deterring criminals from committing offenses, the death penalty has rather hardened many of them like the terrorists.