[tasty_freeze]

One huge problem is it isn't applied fairly. Money and race shouldn't factor into sentencing, but they absolutely do.

"Economic sense" is a non-argument. Think how much money society would save if we tore down all the prisons and simply shot everyone found guilty of a crime.

Another argument in support of the death penalty is that is "brings closure" to the victims or the family of the victims. That is appalling to me. I completely understand why the victim('s family) would want to see the criminal die, but why stop there? What if the father of a rape/murder victim asked the court to allow him to strap down the criminal and let the father torture him for an afternoon. It would bring a lot of closure to the father, perhaps, but it doesn't mean society should allow it.