I don't think favoring or opposing the death penalty is an easy matter. On this one, a person can think with his mind or with his heart. I'm not certain which is right. Two recent matters demonstrate this.
Within the past couple of weeks, a man who was held in prison for 27 years in New York was released. It was discovered he was innocent! I assume, with "27 years," the crime was one that in today's New York is a capital offense (but I'm not certain). Regardless, there are other such cases. What if this man had been put to death back then? In fact, there are hundreds of cases in which the convicted were later found to be innocent. One such instance occurred in Michigan in the 1830s, when it was still a territory, which is one reason the death penalty has never been used in Michigan under state laws. The death penalty is final. There is no "Oops!"
Yet, in the past few days comes a story of a guy who shot and killed a one-year old because the baby's mother didn't give the robber any money. The guy shot the baby in the head! Now, well, it's time to rethink the death penalty. This one pulls at the heart strings, shooting and killing a baby because the robber didn't get any money. Life in prison doesn't seem to do enough to punish this one.
The possibility of making an irreversible mistake, a big one, vs the most heinous of crimes that deserves the ultimate penalty??????
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