The question of the death penalty is a tricky issue. In my view, it all seems to come down to our view of justice and whether or not it should include in it a sense of state-sanctioned vengiance. I cannot help but admit that, if someone I loved were to be mercilessly killed, then I would probably have a strong emotional reaction to desire the death of the killer. I think that is true for most people. However, I find it very difficult to explain how that would be any different than a simple desire for vengiance. Can any of you who support the death penalty answer that question - i.e. How, specifically, would the desire for the death of a brutal murderer be any different from a simple desire for revenge?
Most of the time, one speaks of goals for a justice system to include:
1) Protection of the public from further violence: Incarceration (in some cases, without the possibility of parole) achieves this goal well.
2) Punishment: There seems to be two goals in this. One is to use punishment as a way of teaching the criminal to stop his criminal actions in order to change his ways. With the death penalty, this goal is irrelevant. The second goal of punishment seems to be to warn others not to commit such crimes. Hypothetically, fear of the death penalty could help prevent future crimes. However, I have heard that the statistics do not support the contention that the existence of the death penalty has dettered a significant number of crimes.
3) Rehabilitation: This is the goal to change the criminal into a potentially productive and safe citizen. Again, this is irrelevant if you are going to kill him.
So, the only reason I can really see why people support the death penalty is to have simple vengeance against the perpretrator. So that is the bottom line: If you think that vengeance should be part of the justice system, then you might feel justified in supporting the death penalty. If you don't feel comfortable with vengeance playing a role in the justice system, then you should rethink your support of the death penalty.