re: #438 Obdicut

It doesn’t offend. But you’ve got to accept that some innocent people are going to be killed by the death penalty. If you’re okay with that, if you think the value of a death penalty is worth people innocent of that crime being put to death, then you’re intellectually consistent about it.

Depends on how often it happens. If it’s once in a century, that’s regrettable but I’d rather take my chances on getting executed for a crime I didn’t commit, than murdered for a payroll I didn’t carry.

There is no perfect safety anywhere and the idea has to be to strike a balance. An executed man will, and this at least is a sure thing, never kill anybody again. Those sentenced to life in prison, on the other hand, do kill guards and fellow inmates from time to time, they win release from governors who write pardons to avenge themselves on a legislature about to impeach them, and they escape and go on killing sprees. The list here is long.

Those contemplating atrocious murders, just because it seems like a good tactic, calculate their odds. For these, the ones who would be eligible for the death penalty anyhow, it’s surely a deterrent. That, too, contributes to public safety.