Reasons

Some recent decisions and arguments before the Supremes have gotten everybody up in a tizzy about the death penalty again. So I thought I'd lay this out for you folks.

The death penalty is stupid, anachronistic, and useless.

What's fun is how many liberal-types support the death penalty because it helps cut the argument that they're "bleeding hearts", and yet it's one of the most idiotic policies we Americans still cling to. Here's why:

1. It is not a deterrent. People do not stop murdering because they might get the chair (or the injection, or whatever). You can argue that this is because it takes years to carry out a sentence of capital punishment, but more likely it is because people who murder are usually not thinking rationally. It's why they are murdering in the first place.

What's worse, it may actually push those who kill to commit MORE murders, not less. If you're robbing a bank and you shoot the guard, why not just start shooting everybody? You've already crossed the line, and dead witnesses are much better for your upcoming trial.

2. It is not efficient. The safeguards we have in place to prevent unfair or unlawful executions include numerous automatic appeals, a process which takes years and sucks up valuable court time. Yes, you could argue that these appeals are the problem, but without them capital punishment is even more tenuous. We have a problem with executing the innocent already (see below), and "speeding things up" will not solve that.

3. It is not infallible. If you put a convicted murderer in jail for life, and find out 30 years later he was as innocent as he maintained, you can let him out. Pissed as hell, I bet, but he is alive. Execute him, and you're a murderer. It doesn't matter if all the evidence pointed that way (even if it often does not), if you're wrong you can't undo it. You can't give a 30-year convict his 30 years back, either, but you can stop punishment.

No punishment meted out by government should be permanent. Any advanced society must be able to recognize and correct its mistakes, and in large part our government has the framework to do just that. But capital punishment takes away this ability, and for no good reason.

4. It is not as good as life in prison. I do not understand why sending a murderer to the Great Beyond seems like a better solution. I would much rather be free of this earthly plane, than spend the rest of my waking life in a 5x10 cell.

The bleeding hearts will also argue that execution removes any chance for redemption, and while this is a bit naive, it is true. Even if it takes 40 years, what if a prisoner turns it around? He may not be able to change his life (he'll still be in prison, after all), but why should we execute someone who realizes his error and wishes to atone?

5. Do it yourself. Let's be honest here; the only reason to execute somebody is because we thirst to take from them what they've stolen from us (our loved one). So I say, take it. You, Mr. Father of the Murdered Daughter, go buy a gun and shoot him in open court.

This is a personal feeling, but if I really felt that strongly after someone murdered a loved one, I'd just kill him myself. I will accept the consequences of the action (my own imprisonment) if the feeling is strong enough. I am not advocating mob or vigilante justice--because if I am wrong, and the guy I think is the murderer is not, I will have to accept that as well.

Taking a life is Serious Business. But the government gets to do it without consequence, and that is not how it should work.