Since 1976 (when the Supreme Court reversed its 1972 decision to ban the death penalty in the US), there have been “more than a hundred and thirty people on death row have been exonerated.”
There are heinous crimes for which I would have a hard time arguing against the death penalty (I doubt you will ever find me arguing for it in any situation). That isn’t the issue. The issue is we have a predictably flawed (all juries are imperfect) system that does not always convict the correct person of their actual crimes.
As a taxpayer, I would far rather pay for the care and appeals during the lifetime sentence of all death-row inmates than continue to be part of society that is killing innocent men and women. As quoted in the article above, former Illinois governor George Ryan stated he could no longer support a system that has “come so close to the ultimate nightmare-the state’s taking of innocent life.
This all reminds me of an amazing book I read ~2 years ago. It was one of those reads I truly could not put down, reading in during all the 5 minute breaks between periods at school, on lunch, and late into the night. It is the memoirs of Rev. Carroll Pickett, a minister who was asked to assist at his local prison when executions were resumed after the 1972 stay. He starts his journey in favor of the death penalty and over time watches as the truly guilty, but also the mentally retarded and truly innocent are put to death:
You can view the full documentary online for $3.99 at Amazon and find his book here.