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I support a small government that also decides which people have the right to live, which people are okay to hire, and which businesses are too successful to continue existing.
All the suspects that are going to be arrested for treason ought to be quaking in their boots now.
I think the death penalty can be a boon to society if wielded correctly.

However...

> ... we owe it to the victims and their families to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system

In my opinion, death penalty should never be used to sate a victims thirst for vengeance or justice and is therefore unworthy of being used on your token murderer or rapist. Life imprisonment is better for that since they may be later exonerated.

I think death penalty should be used judiciously to execute dangerous, powerful, repeat offenders of egregious crimes. These are people who are dangerous to society both inside and outside of prison. People like organized crime leaders, human trafficking leaders, terrorist leaders, etc - not your average criminal.

> Life imprisonment is better for that since they may be later exonerated.

I think it would be great if we introduced a "No Doubt" to surpass "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" which allows the convicted to execution. The McVeighs and Roofs of the the world, for whom there is no doubt, can be executed, while sparing the "we found two of his hairs near the victim" convicts.

I have a feeling this wouldn't work as well as it sounds. The legal system doesn't really seem to distinguish between "two hairs" and "procedural fuckup" so someone who drove a monster truck through a crowd of people and runs around afterward wearing a signboard saying "IT WAS ME, I DID IT!!1!" could still get off when the prosecutor misfiles something or fails to obtain the proper warrant for a search.
I feel like the condition of repeated offense is a good one for ensuring accuracy, but that the kinds of people you list, crime leaders, terrorist leaders, etc. are those who should especially be kept alive for public inquiry, because these people are often used to justify extraordinary narratives for curtailing freedom.

The idea of terrorists and crime bosses continuing their leadership from prison makes you question how such a government institution is run.

One wonders if it could also apply to a random Australian journalist once extradited to the US.