Life sentences without the possibility of parole/release is what I am talking about. Problems with it are:What if, instead of the death penalty, convicted criminals in such capital crime cases received life sentences without the possibility of parole/release? While certainly the possibility of further murders exists within whatever prison houses them, the general public would remain safe from such criminals (barring the extremely rare successful escape).
As others have said, it isn't a question of whether certain individuals deserve execution. Rather, it is about the unfortunate problems with the justice system and the inherent fallibility of any system created and run by humans.
1. Prisoners in prison kill other inmates (see my link). The other inmates may have violated laws enough to be in prison, but that doesn't mean it's OK for them to be bumped off, whenever one of these killer loons feels like it.
2. No, the general public does NOT remain safe from such criminals who are imprisoned. Not at all. Killers in prison can (and do) kill people outside the prison all the time, by ordering hits on people. This is especially true of gang leaders, who have a high rate of incarceration. There are thousands of them in prisons all across America.
Al Capone is thought to have killed over 100 people in just the 7 years he was imprisoned.
3. Prison escapes are not as rare as you might think (see my link - Post # 56)
4. As in the post where I gave an example (# 31), there is no fallibility is those cases. Those are the cases I am referring to.
How many cases do you think there are with absolutely no doubt?