The Death Penalty for the USA is ?

It’s kind of hard to say. I’m generally opposed to killing people; even hardened criminals, but I can imagine circumstances where it might be necessary…

The trick of it is, I think far too often the death penalty is a form of revenge for the victims or their families, rather than a way of preventing crime.

I can’t see it as much of a deterrent, because most of the really nasty people you want to stop with it are not likely the sort of people that will tremble if their own lives are threatened. It might just make their crimes more of a thrill.

And if the victim is getting some sort of satisfaction out of this execution, is it really helping them move past whatever trauma the criminal caused them? I honestly don’t know. I’ve never been and hope to never be in that situation.

So I guess—if we’re talking rapists and serial killers, maybe there’s no other option but to execute them to be sure they don’t do it again; but it seems to me that more could be done to build a society where people are less motivated to crime—if only we could get past this harsh, disciplinarian mentality in the first place.