Birdman1 said:
The death penalty is not a good detterent. A simple example of which is Texas. They kill more people then any other state, but the yearly execution numbers keep going up anyway.
The death sentence is a
great deterrant if used properly. It just needs to be swift, sure, and certain.
Look at the old school Mafia model (all other moral and legal issues with them aside). If a guy ratted out somebody in the Mafia, he was going to die. It happened quickly and without any realistic chance of getting away from it. It served as a sterling reminder to those who remained.
We could argue all day about some aspects of the death penalty, but I think that nearly all of us would agree that, as currently implemented, it's not swiftly enforced. It's far from sure whether a person will get sentenced to it, either.
There is great and valid debate in the country over whether it's equally enforced. I did a study on that in college (sociology major) and the results were far from conclusive, but tended to be bad in that regard. If anything is going to stop the death penalty, it's the certainty of guilt under our system and the equity of the execution.
That said, I believe in it. Not surprisingly, I'm from Texas. The numbers keep going up for several reasons, mostly not involving immigration. Things like population growth and politics.
Plus, we're making up for lost time and trying to clear the backlog. Like the comedian said:
"Most states are trying to get rid of the death penalty. In Texas, we're putting in an express lane".
I say add the child molesters to the list of those eligible. Then again, I have three daughters, so I may be biased.