[Alberta's Child]

Here's an interesting question: How can a specific manner of criminal punishment be declared "cruel and unusual" simply because of the type of person it is being carried out against? Does this mean that retarded people are being given a Constitutional protection that "normal" people do not have?

[eagleye]

The rationale for the death penalty is a mystery to me. Even the proponents do not claim that it deters crime, and it costs the state more than imprisonment, given that numerous appeals must be litigated. And DNA evidence has proved that we have come dangerously close to frying a good number of innocent people. So, will someone articulate for me just why you belive we should continue the practice?