Quote Originally Posted by venturalaw
The death penalty is the only undeniable deterrent.
There is no evidence that the death penalty is a deterent. To say killing someone will prevent them from another committing another crime is not the point. So does locking them up. Killing people also stops them from J walking. The question is one of justice, and the ability of a society to deal with it's own worst criminals (killers) better than it's own worst criminals. Finally, treating the potential if not the fact that we kill innocent people as some kind of collatoral damage is just plain barbaric.

If you really want to get into it, start another thread.