Reply #51: I totally support the death penalty (in theory). There are some crimes so horrible... [View All]

[Bucky]

that killing the perpetrator is the appropriate punishment. The only problem is that just about every state in this country that has the death penalty option for juries has shown that their system of justice is going to get it wrong part of the time.

We, as a society, simply lack the maturity, judgment, and fairness required to impartially dispense justice. How many people have been freed from death row by being exonerated? How many on death row are still not being allowed to get DNA tests to verify their guilt? We, as Americans, get it wrong too often to be trusted as a pool of potential jurors. The case studies I've read about show that the race of the accused is commonly a factor in the awarding of death sentences.

If we could ensure perfect justice, I'd be all for killing the guilty. But as we, as a society, are so flippant about potentially killing the wrongly accused, we don't deserve the right to terminate the lives of those who deserve that particular punishment.