[IronJack]

My concern is with meting out an irreversible punishment in a system of imperfect justice.

ALL punishment is "irreversible." If you put an innocent man behind bars for 20 years, upon the discovery of his innocence, how do you restore the 20 years?

Justice is, by nature, retributive and reactive. If the scales are to be balanced, the punishment must equal the crime. The maximum offense demands the maximum payment. Since the most punishment the system can impose and still be constitutional is a death sentence, in cases where the offense is as heinous as imaginable, the death penalty is not only tolerable, it is REQUIRED as the only means to satisfy justice. Any lesser penalty diminishes the value of the victim's suffering and elevates the offender above not only that victim but society itself.

It takes courage to apply the ultimate discipline, but a worthy society will rise to that demand.

[Vigilanteman]

Any lesser penalty diminishes the value of the victim's suffering and elevates the offender above not only that victim but society itself.

ALL of your statement was profoundly true, but this was the best part.

[Paradox]

ALL punishment is "irreversible." If you put an innocent man behind bars for 20 years, upon the discovery of his innocence, how do you restore the 20 years?

Umm, no, its not the same thing, sorry. Still against it, and still a conservative.