Whereas I'm against the death penalty in all cases. No situational ethics.
There are some people in this world that simply offer no socially redeeming value and pose a horrific threat to people, especially the most innocent among us. They are pure evil, Like a rabid dog, those people need to be put down for the safety and security of others.
I once saw an interview with a serial pedophile. this guy had been arrested something like 6 - 7 times for pedophilia, sexual assault, and hurting children in unusually cruel and perverted ways .He was very candid and blunt. The reporter asked him what people could do to prevent serial pedophiles like him from continuing to commit those heinous crimes. He said he had been arrested, jailed, received psychological treatment, and had even been chemically castrated...and it did NOTHING to fight the urges he has. He says almost every serial rapist like himself he talked to felt the same way. He declared that if he ever got out of jail again...HE WOULD DO IT AGAIN, that he could not help himself. He then said what society should do is to put people like him to death - 'kill me', he said. 'That is the only honest way you can ever protect children.'
If a man like this can come to that conclusion...if the worst, most violent offenders (murderers, rapists, etc) we put in jail will NOT tolerate anyone who hurts a child and will kill them in jail, then why is it so difficult for 'civilized' people to realize that sometimes (as they might say in Texas) some people need killin'?!
Just a thought...