Our latest technological refinement in execution people is to poison them with an overdose of drugs. The idea is to be humane. Some people call giving the death penalty a noble thing. But lets recognize it for essentially what it is - revenge. Retribution in the form of revenge is what we are talking about here.
Capital punishment is vengeance.
We don't rape a rapist. We don't burn arsonists. We don't stand drunk drivers in the middle of the road and run them down. The long struggle of the human race has been filled with violence, war and homicide. It probably will be for many years to come.