capital punishment

Capital punishment, often known as the death penalty, is a form of punishment which denies the right to live and breathe to one who is convicted of a particularly heinous crime. This form of punishment is carried out and approved by the state, with a sentencing by the judge who convicted the alleged committor of the crime and a written approval by the head of state of a country or lesser jurisdiction.

Capital punishment, in the places and times where it has been used, varies in both the application upon the convicted and the crime or type of crime which could warrant such a punishment.

See also: anarchism and capital punishment