Well you guys are making life imprisonment sound as weighty as execution, whats wrong with it?
I have played the thought experiments with myself where I imagine someone near and dear to me was murdered, and I would absolutely want retribution and hope to see the assailant killed.
However I also then imagine myself in the shoes of an innocent man who is destined to be killed.
In my system of beliefs and ethics, one situation actually allows for an innocent life to be saved, and i would like to partake a system which allows for that.