62: Protecting society with, and from, capital punishment

At some point, the idea of capital punishment stopped being about protecting society through the dispensation of justice, and it started being about settling the score for crimes that offend a lot of people.  The word "heinous" could almost be defined as "justification for revenge."  If you take vengeance away from the death penalty, we would certainly seek such a sentence far less often. Different Drummer: Neil Peart