Capital punishment is defined as the legally authorized execution of a person as punishment for a crime. Capital crimes and capital crimes are crimes punishable by death. This procedure has been practiced in many societies and countries for years. It has been reported that executions cost far more than life in prison (Payne, 2013). Of all the states where capital punishment is permitted, California has the largest number of inmates on death row (Payne, 2013). It has also been reported that California has also spent over four billion dollars on the death penalty since it was reauthorized in 1978, and currently spends over one hundred and eighty-four million dollars each year for capital punishment. spending more than $1 billion over the next five years (Payne, 2013). Death penalty trials are estimated to cost 20 times more than trials for inmates seeking life in prison without the possibility of parole. Texas has executed the largest number of inmates in the United States. It has been reported that 40% of all executions have taken place in Texas since the Supreme Court reauthorized the death penalty in 1976. In the 18th century, the first capital punishment law was developed in the King's Code Hammaurabi of Babylon ("The US history", 2009). The Code of Hammaurabi was a legal document that contained the first known laws on capital punishment. It was written in the 1700s BC and, according to the code, twenty -five different crimes were punishable by death. These crimes were: theft, adultery (either a husband or wife having an affair), and helping slaves escape and/or harboring them. .... middle of paper ...... it was not officially abolished in the UK until 1998. Capital punishment is generally opposed by almost all religions because they find it immoral , despite the fact that there are many religious passages that support it (Payne 2013), Christianity and Catholicism oppose the death penalty and have formed movements against it. Christians generally cite the execution of Jesus Christ on the cross as the primary reason for their opposition to the death penalty. Baptist ethicist Glen H. Stassen wrote in an article about the death penalty. how Lord Jesus Christ was unjustly given the death penalty and people were repeating the same act is equally bad (Martinez, 2002, however, the Buddhist religion has never spoken publicly about the death penalty, because she is best known for having). compassion for life and firm opposition to violence.