We can judge a society by how it deals with its most vulnerable.
And no one is more vulnerable than a man on death row hours away from execution.
Georgia executed Troy Davis last night, who was convicted of killing a Savanna cop nearly 20 years ago. The conviction has stood numerous court challenges, but Davis’ guilt was placed into doubt because seven of the nine eyewitnesses that testified against Davis recanted in a case that had little physical evidence to support the conviction.
I have no idea whether Davis was innocent or not. What bothers me about the case, however, is that there remained some doubt — which means that Georgia may have executed an innocent man.
And that should be unacceptible. That it’s not, that Americans are unwilling to see that the death penalty submerges us in a moral swamp, that it taints everyone of us who lives in the United States.
The death penalty is a barbaric failure. It offers no deterrence (otherwise why would Texas, the execution capital of the nation, have 17 percent more murders per capita than the death-penaltyless New Jersey). The machinery erected to try suspects is as rickety as America’s decaying bridges, with the ultimate, irreversible penalty being imposed and no way of guaranteeing that the person being sent to death is guilty. There always is reasonable doubt.
Albert Camus called it premeditated murder in which society is complicit. When we put anyone to death, we are all guilty of murder.
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Hank Kalet 
I don't know that there is ALWAYS \”reasonable doubt\”. But I do think that the Gooferment killing citizens, guests, or even \”illegal aliens\” is immoral, ineffective, and inefficient. We KNOW that there have been many mistakes in death penalty cases (i.e., Project Innocence). So since we can't raise the dead, I think we should NOT have a \”death penalty\”. That being said, \”death penalty\” inmates are potentially very dangerous — it'd be like keeping a cobra as a pet — so maybe we need a confinement method that would be safe for the guards. Maybe the \”death penalty\” is reserved for those convicts who are just too dangerous to keep in confinement.
I'm against the death penalty because we have a very imperfect judicial system but it's probably better than most in the world. Our judicial system is based on money and the poor are at a distinct disadvantage. Life in prison should suffice. Yes, there are horrific monsters in prison who are psychotic sociopaths who should be separated from the general population. We don't believe in torture or cruel and unusual punishment even for these monsters. I feel sorry for the prison guards who have to deal with these predators. Most of the guards are public employees…..they deserve union representation, decent wages, health benefits and defined benefit pensions. That costs money, taxes; even privatized prisons need tax money and guess what, they end up being more expensive than publicly run prisons. If you have a problem with paying taxes for prisons, then maybe you can take custody of one of the prisoners.