A dead inmate has never assaulted a prison guard. Or anyone else for that matter.

Pedophiles should be executed, serial rapists, serial murderers, mass murderers....
....

I am opposed to having the state perform executions. If execution is to be on the table, let someone from the victim's family do it.

Given the Innocence Project findings, far too many executions are really just racist lynchings.

I don't understand what the problem is with the means of execution. All you need is a source of pure nitrogen or carbon dioxide; fast and painless. Maybe that's part of the problem?

No one should ever be executed. No one. Ever.

A civilized society will never IMPOSE the death penalty. Notwithstanding, human dignity, even that of a murderer or a rapist, is worth preserving. Any inmate should have the RIGHT to demand death in lieu of serving the remainder of his/her sentence. Death by nitrogen asphyxiation is painless, quick, effective and simple to perform.

He seemed somewhat troubled by the nature of his work, however, it is clear that his lifestyle and pension are far more important than any qualms of conscience.

i am totally against the death penalty unless the prisoner requests it as in the Timothy McVeigh case.

I seriously doubt that people in his family don't know. Executions are typically done at midnight.Correction officers I'm sure do have around the clock shifts but preparation would require an odd time to begin or a late time coming home. I'm also sad to say it sounds like he's from Oklahoma or Texas where we seem to relish the death penalty.

I have never been able to understand why people that are determined to save every zygote think it's okay to kill a fully formed human being.

Much to the surprise of many who, logically, would assume that shortening someone's life should be cheaper than paying for it until natural expiration, it turns out that it is actually cheaper to imprison someone for life than to execute them. In fact, it is almost 10 times cheaper! One might ask, “how can that be?”

Every state that has a death penalty also has an intricate system and basis for appeals. These appeals can relate to everything from due process claims to equal protection (minorities are convicted at far higher rates than whites) and, most famously, to the cruel and unusual punishment prohibition of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The result? In California, the slowest state in the Union, the average wait time for someone sentenced to death is 20 years between conviction and execution. The national average is just under nine years.

And, while all of this waiting is going on, the process has not ground to a halt. Quite the opposite, in fact. The appeals process consumes hours of labor, not only by court staff, but also by the often court-appointed, tax payer funded, and constitutionally guaranteed public defenders. As a result, some estimate that it costs U.S. taxpayers between $50 and $90 million dollars more per year (depending on the jurisdiction) to prosecute death penalty cases than life sentences.

A number of states have taken notice of this fact, particularly in the wake of the “Great Recession.” As state budgets shrank, unnecessary expenditures, even ones that are usually fairly politically popular like the death penalty, found themselves on the chopping block. Several states decided that the cost was unreasonable and decided to either enact a ban on death penalty cases or change the law to eliminate it as a possible sentence all together.

Another reason many states have seen skyrocketing costs and have considered banning the death penalty: DNA evidence. Genetic testing is not terribly cheap, nor are the experts required to testify about the results. But, now that hundreds have been exonerated as a result of genetic testing, it is clear that it is an invaluable tool in the criminal process and has helped to prevent innocent men from facing death for crimes they did not commit. Therefore, despite the expense, DNA testing is here to stay despite adding to the expense of a death penalty case.

Death penalty trials are more expensive for several other reasons, as well. They often require additional attorneys, including some with specific levels of experience who are “death penalty certified.” Needless to say, these attorneys tend to command higher salaries than first year public defenders. Security costs are often higher for death penalty cases, both in the courtroom and in prison where death row inmates are usually housed separately from other inmates.

Of course, the immediate response one normally receives when pointing out this fact during a death penalty debate is that we should simply get rid of the appeals. While this would eliminate a portion of the expense (increased trial and security expenses would not be avoided), it would also eliminate fundamental civil rights granted every American. And, as noted above, given the number of people who have been exonerated thanks to DNA evidence which was not available for one reason or another during the initial trial, it would appear to be a very good thing that the process allowed for a number of appeals so this evidence could be developed and prove the innocence of the accused.

Consequently, while cost is not the only factor to be considered, when it comes down to an argument regarding the benefits of the death penalty to society, the argument that it is cheaper to execute someone than keep them alive in prison for the rest of their lives is utterly wrong.

I find it the height of hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance that a people or a group or a state that support the death penalty have the utter hubris to also claim to be devoutely christian, not caring one bit that one of their God's direct and explicit commandments is "Thou shalt not kill".

This is why I say to every Christian who supports the death penalty that they are going straight to their hell and there's not a damn thing they can do about it. God's commandments are very simple and very clear.

Doesn't solve anything, doesn't prevent anything, basically becomes revenge and /or vengeance.

I'm for the death penalty in certain cases.

He could resign...I’m sure there are many others who would relish bumping off their fellow citizens and being paid for it! I think the Governor of the State, who is the person who has the ultimate responsibility of sanctioning the execution, should be the one who shoulders burden of carrying out the killing in person. Of course that’ll never happen will it? No country which executes it’s own citizens can consider itself civilised...and I’m pleased to say we eventually left this barbaric practice behind in 1964 in the U.K.

Interesting. It seemed that he wanted people to feel sorry for him.

wow that was moving and I read what the great said and its hard to think that it costs more ....to me I think of the ppl that are being exonerated daily ....that is horrible but there is no im sorry in death ....we need a better system.

Many people have been executed that were innocent. I TOO am against the death penalty.

The page is loading really slllloooowwww so I wasn't able to see the link.

I did read that most can't get over the fact... Me? I think I could do it. The only thing I have against capital punishment is obviously human error. We kill one innocent person and we are all killers. Oh, and the cost. It costs more for the death penalty than life in prison. But people do escape.