I have had a visceral opposition to the death penalty since I was a very small child

[kydo]

25. I'm not advocating torture and vengeance

That was how I thought as a kid.

As an adult I am still against the death penalty. However there are people that should never be released into society. And figuring out a way to keep them separate from other prisoners and society is an extremely tricky issue.

Our prison system is messed up. There really should be two systems. One for people that are to be released after they have served their sentence. And one for those who are serving life without parole.

But keeping the individuals who are never to be released poses its own predicament. Locking a person into a cell for 23 hours a day is torture and that's what we currently do to most people on death row. It happens to many inmates not on death row.

Many people in prison have mental issues and shouldn't even be in prison.

All I know is I am against the death penalty and if I ever had to serve on a jury where the death penalty was being sought I would be the reason for the hung jury because I would never sentence any one to death.

Life without parole even in our imperfect system is currently the best option for now.