The Death Penalty is the only way to make sure one does not kill again............. It must be given only when there is absolutely no doubt that one has killed another..

Are there crimes worthy of death yes! Murder,Rape, Pedophiles kidnapping and last but not least Treason! Does it deter of course, said murderer will not kill again if dead! Life without parole...killers kill again time and again...what is the punishment...another LIFE SENTENCE! Likely also that Voltaire and Franklin never had a child raped and butchered and then taunted by the killer! Oh yes the death penalty has a place! And the logic(I SPEAK lightly that a hundred murderers go free if one man innocent die)is logical...if one is mentally deranged!

Quote: "Do I trust the government to arrest, convict and kill the responsible party 100% of the time?"

Do you trust the government to arrest and convict anybody? For anything?

I will just throw this into the ring, well worth watching and thinking about

Is the Death Penalty a Deterrent?

Not when people die of Natural Causes on Death Row. There are ways I think the Death Penalty should be reformed.

1. Today's trials often take place more than a year after the "crime." Is that a "Speedy Trial?" I don't think so. It should happen within 6 months, of arrest.
2. With the proliferation of DNA technology and usage, if there is no DNA match or corroboration in a murder case, the Death Penalty would not be allowed, unless the Defense allowed it.
3. Once trial and sentencing is over, there would be an Automatic appeal to a Special Appeals court for Death Penalty Cases to be adjudicated withing 60 days. These cases would also be separated between Federal and State cases. A Federal Case would stay in the Federal Realm, and a State Case would stay in the State realm. The State case would NEVER go to a Federal Court of any kind.
4. Once the case was seen by the applicable Appeals Court, it would then go to the appropriate Supreme Court where it would be adjudicated within 30 days.
5. Once adjudicated by the appropriate Supreme Court, it would the go to either the Governor or the President, where within 10 days, he would be able to either commute to a Life Sentence or confirm the Death Penalty.
6. Once all of this is complete, the person who is sentenced to Death would be punished within 30 days.

If these steps were complete, the person would see their sentence carried out within 10 months from arrest.

One last thing. Currently, the prisoner is able to choose the way they are executed in some states. This should be changed to allow the VICTIM'S FAMILIES that choice

When has a representative of the state ever been put to death for crimes committed while in office? I can't get behind the idea of capital punishment being a one way street so I'll never endorse state sanctioned killing for any crime. Ever.