Quote: I used to be for pro-death penalty, now I'm not so sure. Too many documented mistakes made, especially if the supposed criminal is of color. Never the less, I have thought about this some, and have come up with what I call the "Monster Clause". People like the above, and other examples like John Wayne Gacy, Manson, etc... are not beings who we would describe as "human beings". I.E., although they talk like us, look like us and fit in with us to a large degree, they are actually "monsters". Monsters are so horrific and twisted that they defy understanding. Their brain is wired so wrong that they are outside the human pale, therefore undeserving of the chance of living amongst ordinary people who share common virtures like compassion, empathy, remorse, etc. They are, literally, Monsters, who live among us. A group of criteria could be set up, whereby a particularly horrible person would qualify, conditions like; multiple murders,multiple killings of children, particularly gruesome circumstances, etc. If a "criminal person" fits enough criteria, kill them. The tricky part would be making the call, slippery slope and all that. One note on capital punishment, by the way. The Bible does not prohibit killing. The original language of the Jewish "Ten Commandments" translates to, "Thall shalt not MURDER".
Both the Bible and the US Constitution clearly allow for capital punishment. Saying that either does not, as some do, is simply not true. As for documented mistakes, I'm pretty sure you have to go back quite some time to find them.
I'm not anti death penalty but there have been a bunch of people released from death row who were exonerated by DNA, etc., in the past few years. It's very easy to find innocent people that ended up on death row. So many so that Illinois placed a moratorium in the death penalty. Two from my city alone in the past year.
Texas famously executed a man not too long ago that the preponderance of evidence indicated that no murder even occurred. The state chose to believe an inexperienced local investigator over a series of widely respected experts throughout the country.
