I was thinking about the arguments against capital punishment and have always come down on the side of yes, but with great sadness. The taking of another’s life after a couple of decades of legal processes just seems so wrong. According to Perplexity 1500 people have been executed since 1976. Some of those were innocent as numerous folks on death row have been acquitted with DNA studies, etc. Taking an innocent life, as we can assume some of the 1500 were, is terrible. (https://www.perplexity.ai/search/how-many-released-convicted-mu-ksN.wtqFTKG5Mxkm.dKHgw)
On the other side, according to perplexity again (same reference from above), since 1976 between 300,000 and 450,000 convicted murderers have been released from prison, and between 1 and 2% of those have committed murder again. That results in between 3,000 and 9,000 innocent people killed compared with a few of the 1500 executed, let’s estimate 200.
As with everything in life, trade-offs must be made. Is it more important to not execute people for fear of killing an estimated 200 innocent people or allow 15 to 45 times as many innocent people to be killed by letting convicted murderers out of jail?
As usual our political conversations are binary, yes or no, versus a more nuanced one that recognizes the moral black holes of both sides. Our laws allow us to kill another in self-defense, whether as a civilian or a member of law enforcement. Most religious sects agree with that law. Our law and religions also make provisions for a “Just War” doctrine, allowing the killing of a declared enemy.
I see the killing of thousands of innocents by released murderers in the same light. Keep them in jail for life, or execute, you pick.