I understand the urge to remove those who commit heinous acts from society and ultimately the face of the planet. But there are many problems with this mentality. For starters, the death penalty is a permanent solution. Once the sentence is imposed, there's no going back. There's little doubt that states in our country have executed innocent people.

Next I'll say that capital crimes have the higher rate of false convictions because of the extreme nature of the crimes and the stakes involved. The public, enraged and seeking vengeance demand results from police and prosecutors, and that pressure can lead to mistakes and outright misconduct. While I empathize with the families and victims of violent crime, I cannot abide with a clear conscience the conviction and execution of innocent people.

The death penalty is often viewed as the ultimate deterrence against capital crimes. The statistics show us otherwise as states that impose the death penalty do not have a lower rate of capital crimes per capita.

Because of the the permanence of the death penalty, the appeals process required to "get it right" is ridiculously expensive and time consuming. I know there are some with the mentality that we shouldn't give a death row inmate an opportunity to appeal at all. To them I say that it is better to let ten guilty men go free than to execute one innocent man. Would you give your life or the lives of those you love in order to grant the possibility of retribution for the awful deeds of a condemned man? I wouldn't. I would implore you to preserve the sanctity of life and not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Honestly, I see a death sentence as being an easy out for a person who has taken the life of another. I would rather see them spend the rest of their days deprived of liberty and happiness, than to just let them go to sleep. I also do not want to become the same kind of monster that they are by killing people because it suits my desires or agenda. We're better than that and should hold ourselves to a higher standard.

None of this is to say that I'm sympathetic to the evil individuals who commit heinous crimes against innocents. I am an avid follower of true crime cases. I know all too well the urge to enact retribution against those who torture and kill innocent people. I completely sympathize with that sentiment. But no amount of violence will bring back the dead or heal the wounds suffered by the families left behind.

I don't expect everyone to agree with me, but this is the way I see this issue. Some of what I've presented is cold, hard fact, while some is personal opinion. You asked so there it is.