There are always two sides to every issue and capital punishment vs life imprisonment is no different. This issue has been very controversial for decades and still is today. Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is defined as the death penalty for a crime. Some believe that capital punishment should be abolished because it is cruel; others think prison life is just as cruel. There are many reasons to support capital punishment and life in prison. Capital punishment is the death penalty, or execution, which is the sentencing of a person to death through a legal process as punishment for a crime such as the murder of another human being and its discovery. guilty by a group of jurors who attended a court hearing where the district attorney and the defendant argued their views. Historical punishments include boiling to death, flaying, disembowelling, crucifixion, crushing (including crushing by an elephant), stoning, execution by burning, dismemberment. (2008) The United States begins using the electric chair and the gas chamber as a more humane execution than hanging. , then moved on to lethal injection, which was criticized for being too painful. Some countries still choose to resort to hanging, beheading by sword or even stoning. Life imprisonment is a prison sentence for a serious crime; the person must remain in prison for the rest of their life or until they die. You can be sentenced to life in prison for crimes such as murder, high treason, drug or human trafficking, or for aggravated burglary or robbery resulting in death or injury bodily. If you are sentenced to life in prison, it does not always mean that you will never get out of prison. After serving part of your prison sentence, you...... middle of paper ......Available by: Acker, James. Contemporary Justice Review, September 2008, vol. 11 Number 3, p287-289, 3p; DOI: 10.1080/10282580802295625The death penalty, human rights and the British lawlords: judicial opinion on the delay of executions in the Commonwealth Caribbean. Full text available by: Ghany, Hamid A.. International Journal of Human Rights, Summer 2000, vol. 4 Number 2, p30, 14pThe death penalty and war. Full text available by: Duner, Bertil; Geurtsen, Hanna. International Review of Human Rights, Winter 2002, Vol. 6 Number 4, p1-28, 28pCapital punishment, atonement and Christian law. Full text available by: Styers, Randall. Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies, Fall 2007, Vol. 18 Issue 3, p97-127, 31p “History of the Death Penalty”, PBS.org Michael H. Reggio (accessed December 16, 2009) JoAnn Bren Guernsey, Death Penalty: Fair Solution or Moral Failure? 2009