The Death Penalty, with opposing viewpoints The first death penalty laws were first used in the eighteenth century B.C., which was the penalty for 25 different crimes. Death sentences consisted of crucifixion, drowning, beating, and being burnt alive. Hanging was the usual method in Britain in the tenth century A.D. In the sixth century, some common methods were boiling, burning, hanging, and beheading. Some crimes that brought these penalties were marrying a Jew, not …showed first 75 words of 563 total…

…showed last 75 words of 563 total…there is no statutory prohibition, "we do not execute mentally retarded murderers [in Texas] today." Without a legislative ban, those with mental retardation can be sentenced to death because jurors are only required to consider a defendant's mental capacity as a mitigating factor during sentencing. Legislation similar to that rejected by Perry was signed last week by Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and is still under consideration by the governors in Connecticut and Missouri. (Washington Post, 6/18/01)