In my humble opinion, the death penalty runs in opposition to the spirit of punishment: to teach a lesson. If someone kills someone else, and is found to be sane, this person needs to be taught that murder is wrong. You can't learn if you're dead. I know what kind of an investment it is to try and teach someone basic morality, but it is necessary to have a functional society.
If you aren't punishing to teach someone, you are doing it out of revenge (I don't consider deterrance to be a reason for killing someone). There is no justice in revenge, so it has no place in the justice system. Vengence under the guise of justice is an easy way to get away with murder. That's the death penalty; vengence in the guise of justice.
Even if I did think it morally acceptable to kill someone, the system that executes the order is flawed in many ways. People are exonerated from death row, which means they might have been put to death (a very final punishment) while they were innocent. That simply isn't worth the risk. Would you kill someone if there were a chance they were innocent?
Last edited by Willravel; 05-14-2005 at 10:18 PM..
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