The debate over whether the death penalty is ethical is a long-standing debate, depending on which side of the issue you fall on. Both sides of the issue have their points, but there are always aspects to the issue that keep it in the forefront. The right to life is taken for granted without a second thought, however, due to the laws of this country, the freedom we take for granted can be taken away with the mistakes we have made. Looking at both sides of the issue you understand why this remains a relevant issue and will continue to be debated not only civilly, but also in many appeals in our justice system today. Over the past twenty years, thirty-eight of the fifty states encountered have issued at least one death sentence and twenty-four of these states have carried out at least one execution (Bedau, 2007, p. 3). The different methods used in executions have progressed from the firing squad to the electric chair and now to the more popular use of lethal injection. Thirty-five out of fifty states use lethal injection as the primary source for putting someone to death compared to other types of execution (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Capital Punishment 2006). The first historically recorded death sentence occurred in 16th century BC Egypt where the offender, a member of the nobility, was accused of magic and ordered to take his own life. During this period non-nobles were usually killed with an axe, while the first real reform against it began between 1833-1853 because it was considered cruel (Reggie, n.d., par. 1). Walter Berns expressed himself by saying: "If human life is to be held with respect, as it should be, the law which forbids its suppression must be held with respect, and the only way in which the law can be made terrible is to give it the right to inflict the death penalty” (Berns,1980). The value of a human life varies depending on which side of the issue one believes in. Better understand why the idea of ​​taking one's own life rather than being sentenced to life imprisonment in a prison is complex but simple at the same time due to the nature of human life. crimes committed with the mentality of punishment suited to the crime Most of the executions of people are from Vietnam, China, Iran and the United States, the only one westernized country.