I laughed at the last part too!
But seriously, my problem with the death penalty is twofold, though I *am* a supporter of it's limited use.
Firstly, if you are going to give someone the death penalty, the appeal process should be rapid, and if failed, the prisoner should be killed rapidly. I think a legislated maximum death row stay shoudl be imposed to FORCE the courts to work out the appeals and such faster. IE, if you put someone on death row for a year and they are not executed, they get downgraded (upgraded?) to a life senteance, with or without eligibility of parole, depending on the crime.
Secondly, the death penalty is problematic because of the nature of our criminal justice system. Several high-profile cases exist in Canadian law where persons were wrongly imprisoned for life, who were later exonerated. The primary goal of the justice system should be to only imprison the guilty, which is the true purpose of "innocent until PROVEN guilty". Unfortunately, due in part to the 80's "conservative triangle" of Thatcher, Reagan, and Mulrooney, the public has this perception that crime is about "making them pay" and that "tough senteances" will stop crime, which is utter rubbish.
The sole existance of the criminal justice system is to protect society by incarnerating where nessasary, and rehabilitating where possible an offender in order to protect and serve both the public and the offender.