I believe that Ed Koch's piece, "Death and Justice: How Capital Punishment Affirms Life is correct (Koch 2005). We have to have the death penalty for cases of violent murder, multiple murders and serial killers. There is no other choice. Life in prison is not sufficient punishment for the taking of another human life. People always put forward the notion that killing is wrong, in any sense, but they don't want to punish killers. How many killers have been released after relatively short prison terms only to kill again? Koch cites 85 persons arrested for homicide in New York City in 1976 and 1977 who had a previous arrest for murder, six of whom had two prior arrests for homicide, and who one had four previous arrests for murder (Koch 717). How many killers have been sentenced to life in prison, then committed even more murders while in prison, as in the case of Lemuel Smith cited by Koch (Koch716).
What can be done with these people? They cannot be reformed. These people are simply evil. They have no respect for human life. They do no appreciate being given a second chance, a chance to repent and turn their lives around. They just go right back out and do the same thing again. Giving them a life sentence in prison gives them a license to kill in prison: they know that nothing more can happen to them. If he commits another murder, or two, or three while in prison - what more can we do to him? If we can't execute him, he is beyond further punishment so he is free to do whatever he wants.
Why is it that whenever questions of the death penalty come around, everyone comes up with reason after reason to have mercy on the killers, when they had no mercy on their victims? Do people really believe that by "turning the other cheek" these people will appreciate the gesture and repent? Do people really believe that by not killing them, and showing them that we are "better" than they are, that they will see the evil ...