Citizen fears about safety have stopped the earlier practice of releasing murderers from prison after a minimum time served. The Death Penalty is immoral. An execution is the premeditated killing of an individual done by the state in our name. For this reason, nearly every major religious denomination in the U.S. opposes the death penalty. If to kill is a heinous crime, to execute is likewise heinous.
Violence begets violence and the moral fabric of our society is torn by state-sanctioned killing.
If everyone took an eye for an eye, the whole world would be blind. An evil deed is not redeemed by an evil deed of retaliation. Justice is never advanced in the taking of a human life. Morality is never upheld by legalized murder.