The death penalty has no place in the United States, according to Cynthia Tucker, and capital punishment "serves no good purpose." Even the most heinous crimes, such as John William King's dragging a man from his truck, don't warrant the death penalty for several reasons. First, the death penalty does not deter crimes; if they did, as Tucker notes, "This country would be blessedly crime-free." Second, a disproportionate number of minorities, the poor, and persons with disabilities have been sent to death row and it would be impossible to completely eliminate prejudice from the legal system. Third, the possibility and the prevalence of wrongful convictions alone make the death penalty inhumane.
             The United States is one of the only industrialized nations that still practices the death penalty, an ironic fact given the otherwise enormous strengths inherent in the American criminal justice system. Yet on principle, many nations refuse to extradite criminals to the United States precisely because the death penalty is in place. Some American states have also outlawed the death penalty because the residents of those states disagree with capital punishment. Opposing the death penalty is not about being "soft" on crime. Rather, the death penalty serves no good purpose in regulating, reducing, or preventing crime and therefore being in favor of the death penalty in no way assures a policy that is "tough" on crime.
             Being in favor of the death penalty promotes a culture built on hypocrisy and vengeance. State-sanctioned killing is still killing: taking the life of a human being. The death penalty is thus a remnant of the outmoded "eye for an eye" penal system. Yet no serious lawmaker would consider proposing that thieves who get caught should have their hands cut off, or that persons found guilty of slander have their tongues cut out. Moreover, the sense of vengeance the death penalty...