[DanaC]

I don't think it is ever right. For a number of reasons:

Firstly, I do not believe the state should have power of life and death over its citizens.

Secondly, as no justice system is flawless, the potential for an innocent to be wrongfully convicted is always there and the death penalty is irreversible. There have been too many cases of miscarried justice in our and other countries for me to feel completely satisfied that justice would be done. Even with extensive appeals processes, as is the case in the US, there are still people being wrongfully convicted, then executed and then shown to be more than likely innocent. Each generation thinks it has the answer (lie detectors, then DNA evidence etc) and then the next generation discovers such certainty to be unsafe.

Justice is organised, mediated and applied by human beings with individual capabilities and prejudices. A poor defence lawyer, versus a very capable prosecution lawyer can result in a conviction despite innocence (and of course vice versa). Juries and judges can be swayed by their own assumptions and prejudices (without realising it) and this can lead to a different experience of justice depending on skin colour, gender, or economic status. The statistics on convictions certainly suggest this is still a very big problem. Both here and in the US, a black person is more likely to be convicted than a white person for the same crime, and the sentencing is likely to be harsher for a black person than a white person for the same crime once convicted.

Thirdly, no amount of horror or suffering meted out to the convicted will balance out what they have done. I would rather the state be better than the murdering swine. I would rather the state represent the best of what we are as humans, rather than mirror the worst of what we are.