[DubiousPusher]

I think one of the best takes on this issue was a quote from a death penalty critic in the documentary film "Deadline". He said, "We all agree that we should have a system that kills John Wayne Gacy but there is no way to create a system that kills only John Wayne Gacy."

Meaning that, there are certain cases where we are 100% certain of a persons guilt and can mostly agree that that person should die but how do we ensure a death penalty is used exlusively in those cases?

[MichaelBurge]

I suppose one starting point would be to allow executions in the case where the defendant confesses under oath in a courtroom.

Though it might be considered poor policy, since it would discourage people from accepting a plea bargain or confessing.

[greglindahl]

Not to mention all of the people who give false confessions.

False confessions are a common cause of incorrect convictions.

https://courses2.cit.cornell.edu/sociallaw/student_projects/...

[pmoriarty]

Also on the theme of false confessions and how broken the US justice system is, I strongly recommend watching the "Paradise Lost" series of documentaries.[1][2]

[1] - https://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Paradise-Lost-The-Child-Murder...

[2] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost:_The_Child_Murde...