[Jaysun]

Atkins, 26, was sentenced to death for shooting a Langley Air Force Base enlisted man for beer money in 1996.

This statement is the only relevant issue at hand. The death penalty is used, in part, to keep the offenders from racking up more victims (including other inmates). If someone is so retarded that they are unable to refrain from killing others, then they are too great of a threat to society to remain in society. The same goes for those deemed "insane". I say that if you're so insane that you can't refrain from killing others, that you should also be removed from society. We've focused for far too long on the "why" of crimes like the one committed by this guy. Who cares why? If you murder someone you're dangerous and deserve your just punishment. Does the fact that the killer is insane, retarded, an abused child, or whatever else take away from the fact that the victim is still permanently dead?

[TheBigB]

Comedian Bobby Slayton had the best take on this..."And we've got all these guilty liberals saying we can't execute retarded people. 'That's crazy! They don't know what they did,' they're sayin'. Well, if they don't know what they did, then they don't know we're gonna execute 'em, do they? Strap in the electric chair and tell 'em it's an effing ride..."

[jimt]

If you murder someone you're dangerous and deserve your just punishment.

Bingo !