most of the people who commit the worst sort of crimes have already lived those kinds of lives during their childhoods anyway and thats why they end up that way! you have a lot of growing up to do. remove them from society yes. treat them like that no!

True, indeed. Not forgetting that the death penalty is no deterrent anyway.

*The crime rate is higher in states in the US where they have the death penalty, than where they don't. Now I can almost hear people retaliating with 'that's why they have the death penalty in those states - because they're the most violent'. However, if it was an effective deterrrent, surely violent crime in those states would be much lower considering how long they have had the death penalty.

*Most people on Death Row come from poverty stricken backgrounds, and cannot afford decent representation. Many of the state lawyers who are appointed to defend them in court are high on drugs, have been known frequently to pass out or fall asleep in court, and are notorious for providing incomplete and incompetent defences.

*It is actually more expensive to hold a trial for someone where the sentence if found guilty is death, than to keep someone in prison for life.

*The death penalty is about revenge. It's basically the country saying 'we have the right to kill you, because you peed us off'. Somewhere along the line, someone has to take the moral high ground and prove that they are the better and bigger person. That should fall to the justice system.

*In a four year period in the 80s, in America, at least 24 men were executed and then found to have either been innocent, or at least to have enough evidence to strongly question their guilt. Would those pro-death penalty supporters want to explain that to those peoples families?

*To me, I cannot find it in me to ever ever support the murder of another person, no matter what they have done. It is not about them - it's about how I would feel about myself and my country. I am proud that we do not have the death penalty. And yes, I am proud that we provide a basic standard of care to our prisoners. We are supposed to be a humane society - not just humane to those who don't pee us off.

*If anyone is able to get hold of the documentary Fourteen Days in May, I urge you to watch it. It is utterly compelling. And a fabulous book which I would recommend anyone read - packed with info about the death penalty, as well as a compelling true story - Dead Man Walking by Sister Helen Prejean.

I recommend Monster and Boy A to provide some food for thought