But the very execution of a death sentence turns us into that which we oppose. When the state kills a person in the name of all the people of the state, it ironically brings those people down to the same level of the murderer. It equalizes us too much and turns us all into barbarians. And revenge is something based on emotion, not logic. Law, of course, is supposed to be based in logic, but these laws are written by politicians who like to pander to bloodlust, fear, and other emotions of the public who they hope will re-elect them.
Proponents also argue that the death penalty can serve as a deterrent against more murders.
However, this logic is flawed. A spontaneous act cannot be deterred, because there is no forethought. And as for murders that are carefully planned, part of the plan is to avoid being caught, so any deterrent therefore fails to deter. Statistics prove that the death penalty is not a deterrent, because states which do not have a death penalty have a lower percentage of murders. For example, between 1990 and 1994, the homicide rate in Iowa and Wisconsin, which do not have the death penalty, was half that of Illinois which, at the time, did have the death penalty.