Quote Originally Posted by Eki
No, I was referring to Garry Walker's post. I said you shouldn't give a death penalty to those you suspect might be dangerous, because you don't know if they'll really be dangerous in the future. Heck, in some cases, you can't even be sure afterwards that they really did the murder they were accused of. Preemptive death penalty would be efficient, but you'd also kill many innocents in the process, which would be counterproductive.
Yes! IMO it is preferable, even if regrettable, to risk letting criminal escape that to punish an innocent man.
Of course, in case of proven acts of mayhem, maybe death penalty is medieval, but life sentence should be served appropriately.