The Death Penalty. Is it an Evil Act?

'under what circumstances would you allow the government to kill you?'

Murder is the ultimate evil, no doubt about it. I hold murder in the same dis-regard as serious crimes such as rape, paedophilia and torture, but I think it is safe to say that Murder itself is the worst, the most evil.

What causes someone to commit murder? passion, revenge or maybe just some kind of twisted mentality? do they even understand the gravity of it? I think many people do not understand the gravity of it whatsoever.

We, the people, the system, the country in our enlightened and civilised view should know and fully understand the impact, the seriousness and gravity of the crime that is murder.

In my mind, how can we, or the system in its cool, calm and collected manner commit murder in response to murder?

If murder is evil, then surely death penalty is even more evil.

At the end of the day, humans commit murder for a variety of reasons, none of which can be tolerated in a civilised society and they must be removed from society for the safety of others.
A murderer kills, and a murderer has a reason for it. This reason may be complex, it may not be understood by society, it certainly is not tolerated and can never be allowed, but at the very least, a murderer has some kind of motive for their actions.

The Death Penalty does not deter murder.
Murder rates are not affected by the Death Penalty, because only a clear-minded person can be deterred and they are exactly the people who will likely never commit murder.
Someone (with a reason) in a fit of rage or passion, will not think clearly about the repercussions at the time of the killing anyway.

Innocent people are executed.
It has happened, it still happens and it will continue to happen. Humans are not perfect, our judicial systems are not perfect, evidence is not perfect and yet we impose the perfect, ultimate and final sentence.

Once an innocent person is murdered by the state, they cannot come back to appeal. Its over.
All over.

Imagine living on death row as an innocent person, awaiting your country, your people and your system to cooly decide your fate. To sentence your existence to be extinguished. Forever.

At the very least, a wrongfully imprisoned person could eventually be set free with new evidence or appeals. A dead person cannot appeal.

Innocent people have been released from prison after being subject to the unimaginable and crushing psychologial weight of being a Death Row inmate for on average, 9.5 Years! >>

Murders will continue to happen in society either way, by the mentally ill one on hand or a simple Joe Bloggs on the other, who knows?

Perhaps medical science will one day discover a gene, or a reason why a person does it, and it gets fixed. How will we feel then, knowing that we exterminated "guilty" people in such a way?

Once a murderer is caught, why not let them sit in a prison and think about it for the rest their lives? I would argue that would be a worse punishment, if they are really guilty, whereas in the event when an innocent person is imprisoned, they at least can have hope.