From the Huffinton Post:
SANTA FE, N.M. — Gov. Bill Richardson signed legislation Wednesday repealing New Mexico’s death penalty, making it the second state to ban executions since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.
There was a time when I was a supporter of the death penalty. But now we must realize that the death penalty is only viable when it is used by an infallible system. No system will ever be infallible.
I’m also not convinced anymore that the death penalty is moral even within our theoretical perfect justice system. I believe in rehabilitation instead of punishment. Surely a society is judged by how it treats the worst of itself – and mayhaps we should keep that in mind.
The death penalty is a perfectly reasonable form of retribution. Its good for deterrence and protects the innocents. We should worry about good justice, not being humane to sick criminals.
We should require DNA proof for executions – that would solve the problem of “executing the innocent” and we can still have the death penalty as a deterrent to help boost our justice system.