The argument is a common one: the death penalty necessary causes the death of innocent people because no court system gets the right result every time… Science has proved it in many cases, but should this be a reason to incarcerate instead?

Am I being a naive pragmatist when I say that I can imagine death as preferable to daily rape in a high-security prison for the rest of my life? If I were convicted of murder (and I would be innocent, there can be no doubt) I think the death penalty would be an excellent get-out unless I thought there was a chance of the conviction later being quashed.

And if the death penalty prevents more murders from occuring through deterrence than the number of innocent ‘murderers’ executed, surely that’s okay?


Lethal injection

I don’t know the answer yet, I find the whole thing uncomfortable, but in cases where there can be no doubt even to the most skeptical juror, I find it hard to resist the death penalty as a just punishment for those who wilfully break societies greatest taboos (paedophilia, murder and rape).