Lets see - lets warehouse a convicted murderer for 12 to 30 years and one fine day lets walk into his cell, cuff him and march him to a gurney, wipe his arms down with alcohol, stick a shunt in each arm and pump him full of lethal chemicals until he is dead. No barbaric animal plays with its food the way man screws with those who do not have the means to defend themselves. How many wealthy people get the death penalty? Zero - you can not name me ONE wealthy person executed. How many minorities get it compared to their populations - a disproportionate share of convicted condemned inmates are poor and racially selected for death. The USA calls it justice but if you kill in NY you don't get the death penalty - but if you kill in Texas you darn well will get it there. States rights vs the national interest? States can kill if they want to do so or not.... Makes zero sense for someone outside of the USA looking at the nation.
To get the Boston Bomber they had to use a federal death penalty as Mass does not have the death penalty. They used Virgina for the beltway sniper - because they had the death penalty.... They used the military death penalty for the Fort Hood shooter - and by the time they get round to killing this creep he will die of old age. If you can't tell I am not a fan of the murderers but even with these criminals - I am not in favour of the death penalty and there is zero justice in it - none.
George Carlin wrote eloquently about the death penalty. It is a meaningless revenge by the state that does not prevent crime, it accomplishes nothing and profits no one. What are societies goals? If it is to be safe then locking the criminal up for life accomplishes this goal. There is tremendous entertainment value used by politicians to show how tough they are to the masses to keep them from thinking how badly they are getting screwed by the one percent who own them and who own the country. There is no death penalty in Canada, the UK Europe Australia - most CIVILIZED countries and they survive without it. There was an unspeakable murderer in Canada - he defiled and murdered two young girls and was convicted and declared a dangerous offender - he will never hit the streets again and do you know what the people of Canada did about it? They forgot about him and he is locked in a dungeon forever and is not a danger to anyone. A death penalty prosecution and conviction and appeals cost more than life in prison. So stop being so proud to be the the same as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, China, Russia- you know the dregs of the earth - the only so called civilized countries still using the death penalty are the USA and Japan. Wake up and grow up.