|
Because putting people to death has other costs. I do not want my government to have power of life and death over any of its citizens, guilty or innocent. Not all cases are as cut and dried as this. Though these are usually the ones wheeled out by those who are pro-death penalty.
Death is irreversible. To date no justice system has proved itself flawless. Too many people get convicted and go to prison only to have their cases overturned years later, for the death penalty ever to be considered safe. And whilst one can point to this case and say it is pretty damn clear he's guilty, legislation can only be made on the assumption that all convictions are generally safe.
I also believe the death penalty is morally wrong. Aside from that there is enough evidence to show that where it is used the death penalty is often painful and extended. Electrocutions can take many minutes of agony. Lethal injection also often causes agony. If the point of the death penalty is simply to deny that person life and remove them from our world, then there is no reason to do so in a painful fashion. The fact that they will no longer live is enough. If the point of execution is to punish with pain, then I think that is brutal and unwarranted. That they have been brutal does not mean that we should be brutal.
|