Capital punishment from a new perspective

Capital punishment needs to be looked at from a new perspective. If our great Sages would come back in time and see the system that is the ‘death penalty’ in this country today, what do you think they would say? In the time of the Sanhedrin, executions rarely if ever took place, because our Sages respected human life; no matter what. A court which executed one man in seven years would be labeled a ‘destructive court’ (Makkot 7a), because it was understood, how serious of a task executing people was. On the rare occurrences that a Jewish court would actually administer a sentence of the death penalty, the court would even fast that day (Moed Katan 14b). The stringency on witnesses was so high, that the death penalty under Jewish law could almost never be put into practice. Forty years prior to the destruction of the Second Beit Hamikdash in 70 C.E. the Sages refused to hear anymore capital cases! How do you think the Sages would view a capital punishment system with these statistics?

1. Innocence - For every seven executed individuals in this country, one man on death row is found innocent.

2. Economic class - The poor have less of a chance (many of our sages were poor), because many death row inmates were convicted while being protected by court-appointed lawyers who are frequently the worst-paid and most-inexperienced and least-skillful lawyers.

3. Prejudice - Serial killers such as the infamous Gary Ridgway in Seattle who admitted killing 48 prostitutes and runaways got life in prison. An "angel of death" nurse in NJ who admitted killing 17 people got life. Meanwhile, mentally ill and impoverished murderers who could not afford good lawyers and did not warrant much media attention were given the death penalty.

Lastly many people say it is a “deterrent” but we all know that is untrue. It is common sense that when someone decides they are going to take the life of another human being they are either (a) not thinking rationally, and therefore the consequences will not alter their decision to murder, or (b) do not think they will get caught, because is murdering someone worth getting the death penalty or life in prison? No one murders anyone if they believe they will be caught (maybe a very insignificant minority does), so therefore the consequences of their actions are irrelevant to them since they would not commit the crime if in a state of illogicality or under the belief they will never be caught.

Therefore, I suggest we review the death penalty and either heavily reform it, or abolish it.