Since the reinstatement of the death penalty by the Supreme Court in 1976, 1,245 criminals have been legally put to death as punishment for a multitude of disturbing crimes (6). The reinstatement of the death penalty as a possible punishment for crimes ranging from treason to murder has called into question the constitutionality and morality of the punishment by anti-capital punishment protesters. This has led to a great deal of debate among advocates and advocates of capital punishment. Defenders of the death penalty claim that it is an effective deterrent and punishment for murder (1), while the opposing side claims that it is the definition of hypocrisy on an extreme and inhumane level (2). The question of whether or not we should apply the death penalty raises many valid arguments on both sides. The citizens of a nation with the death penalty should all understand the issue because it is the “State” that decides whether or not we should execute another person and it is the citizens as a collective body that make up the “State”. This topic should be of particular interest to many Texans, because Texas consistently ranks first in the nation in the number of executions per year (about 30 per year, or 466 of the nearly 1,300 nationwide since 1976) (8) . That said, where does the death penalty fit into modern society, if it fits at all? In 1972 the United States Supreme Court declared capital punishment unconstitutional and ended the practice nationwide. Four years later, in response to rapidly increasing crime rates, the Supreme Court repealed this decision and allowed each state to decide whether or not to apply the death penalty and for which crimes it would be used (5). Since then, sixteen states have banned...half of the document...On the death penalty." Deathpenaltyinfo.org. Death Penalty Information Center, April 12, 2011. Web. April 12, 2011.Head, Tom "Eighth Amendment - The Text , the origins and meaning of the Eighth Amendment." Civil Liberties on About.com - Your guide to news and civil liberties issues April 12, 2011. Amnesty International Abolished." Crime and Criminals. Ed. James D. Torr. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Opposed Viewpoints. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. March 31, 2011."Reasons for being against the death penalty." Anti- Death Penalty Information. Web. April 3, 2011. Robinson, B.A. “Facts on Capital Punishment: The Death Penalty.” ReligiousTolerance.org by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, June 8, 1995. Web. April 3, 2011." Welcome to the United Nations: It's Your World. Web. April 12. 2011.