When the country is in debt and states are facing budget shortfalls, $620,932 is a lot of tax money to spend on a criminal pursuing the death penalty (“Death Penalty Information Center”). The death penalty should not be legal in the United States because putting the criminal in prison would keep people safe and would cost much less money than the death penalty, and it has been proven that capital punishment is not a deterrent and defendants are not treated equally. The cost alone should be enough to abolish capital punishment because of the funds it drains when more money could be put towards crime prevention expenses are not enough for a person to realize that the death penalty is a waste of resources, the fact that it is proven that it is not a deterrent to murder should clarify the doubt. Furthermore, the inequality in the courtrooms is the icing on the cake on the cake of how unfair the justice system is in capital punishment cases. It is for these reasons that the death penalty must be abolished in the United States. Background Capital punishment laws and regulations have changed significantly over the past two hundred years. Great Britain greatly influenced the original laws of the colonies due to the European settlers. The laws back then were very callous and a person could be sentenced to death for a trivial crime like stealing fruit or hitting your mother or father. The abolitionist movement did not begin until the mid-18th century, when the Italian philosopher Cesare Beccaria wrote his essay On Crimes and Punishments. Beccaria wrote in the essay that there is no rationalization why the State takes a life. Beccaria's influence was evident and American intellectuals began to present a bill... in the middle of the paper... on the Center. Death Penalty Information Center, April 1, 2011. Web. .“Facts about the death penalty.” Death Penalty Information Center. Death Penalty Information Center, April 1, 2011. Web. .“Facts about Deterrence and the Death Penalty.” Death Penalty Information Center. Death Penalty Information Center, 01 April 2011. Web. .“History of the Death Penalty.” Death Penalty Information Center. Death Penalty Information Center, April 1, 2011. Web. .“Race and the Death Penalty.” Death Penalty Information Center. Death Penalty Information Center, April 1, 2011. Web. .