I abhor capital punishment.  

This does not mean that I want it abolished.  This does not 
mean that I would never allow it if it were within my power 
to do so.  It simply means that I abhor the idea and the act 
itself.  

I will tolerate capital punishment until our society can devise 
a more appropriate punishment for the worst crimes that are brought
before the people.  My biggest problem with Capital Punishment is
the finality of it all.  While our system of justice is probably
the best in the world, it is by no means perfect.  Mistakes are
made.  The system is operated and enforced by human beings who by
the very nature of their existence make mistakes.  It would be
better not to have Capital Punishment than to ever execute
someone by mistake.  And so we have an interminable period of
appeal and delay and then more appeal.  Convicted criminals have
been on death row for 15 to 20 years only to have their sentence
commuted to life in prison, or to finally be executed.  As a
matter of fact, the majority of prisoners on death row will die
of causes related to health and age rather than as a result of
their sentence.  

Additionally, the appeal process eats up thousands upon
thousands of government dollars.  Most is spent on judges, 
attorneys, clerks, and all of the associated employees focusing 
almost entirely on the appeal of a death sentence.  Simply 
eliminating the death sentence would reduce the cost of the 
judicial process significantly. 

It has been proven statistically that Capital Punishment is
not a deterrent to criminal acts.  What it is actually is the
removal of an undesirable from society.  Not the temporary
removal that incarceration provides, but a much more permanent
removal.  And there is no doubt that criminals exist who deserve
this fate, but there has to be a better way - one less prone to
the carnival atmosphere that is created every time a criminal is
executed.  

As far back as we have recorded history, there are incidents
of executions which have done more to serve the purpose of those
in power than the society as a whole.  The fact that the courts
in different states can impose a wide variety of sentences for
the very same crime is one example of the problem.  Often times
it is the quality of the prosecutor, judge, or defending attorney
that is the key to the success or failure of the system.  You
will notice that the terms "Guilt" and "Innocence" are
conspicuous by their absence.  As long as that is the case, as
long as we have to accept an imperfect system, that is how long
we should delay the implementation of Capital Punishment.

Here is another argument.  If the taking of a human life is
inherently wrong, how does the taking of another life make it
right?  The bible says an "eye for an eye".  We commonly
interpret this statement to mean that it is correct to inflict
capital punishment.  In fact, what the bible is saying is that
the punishment must not be greater than the crime.  In ancient
times, if a common person happened to harm a wealthy landowner,
it was not unusual for the commoner to be put to death, a
punishment that far exceeded the crime.  So the interpretation
here would be to protect the criminal from cruel and unusual
punishment, and from punishment that far exceeds the act for
which he is being punished.  

The basic question is very simple: Can an imperfect system
invoke a death sentence with 100% certainty that it is correct?  

To be sure, if I were to catch a person in the act of
killing someone, and there was no question of what had happened,
I would be willing to testify in front of a judge and/or jury and
to recommend that the individual be found guilty and punished to
the full extent of the law.  But not many killings are public
events.  The majority of those who stand accused have no
witnesses to come forward and speak truthfully against them.  And
prosecutors are politicians.  They try their cases in the newspapers 
and seek as much glory for themselves as humanly possible.  This 
does not create an atmosphere of justice -  it is not the system 
by which anyone should be judged.
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