I always pause at either or questions, because the answer is usually both.

I was for a long time in favour of the death penalty, but over time became more and more convinced that it was to open to abuse.
The final nail in the coffin (so to speak) for me was the discovery in the 1990s that perhaps the most famous murder and execution case ever, that of Doctor Hawley Harvey Crippen in 1910 turned out to be a a miscarriage of Justice and one that has still yet to be set to rights.
Why?
Because the reputation of a great British politician would be ruined .
Between 1909 and 1911 Winston Spencer Churchill was home secretary (what today would be called Justice Minister) of the UK. As such he was handed by Crippen's lawyer a letter sent from the USA by Mrs. Crippen (the alleged victim) admitting she had deserted her husband and was alive and well, living in Chicago (her home town) and in a bigamous marriage with her lover.
Churchill who was "busy" (for busy read Drunk, he was all ready an alcoholic) placed the letter in his pocket and promised to read it later. The letter was found four days later by Churchills valet who filed it in Mr Churchill's private papers where it remained until Churchill's death in 1965. Then it was sealed with all his other private papers until 1995 when they all became public under the so called 30 years rule. The letter was examined and declared genuine. Mention of the letter at Crippen's trial was made, and its existence was denied by the Home secretary who claimed never to have seen it and claimed not to have possession of any such item, nor did he recall ever being shown it.
Crippen still swearing his innocence was convicted in 1910 for the murder of his wife, based on blood stains scraps of skin and hair found on torn clothing found in Crippen's cellar. DNA analysis of said clothing in 2012 proved conclusively the blood was from a male, probably Crippen himself.
Hawley Harvey Crippen was hanged until dead at 9am on November 23rd, 1910 and was buried on the prison grounds.
All appeals for a posthumous pardon have been refused on the grounds that it would unnecessarily tarnish the reputation of "a great man"

"""""" Police however, murdered 1,234 citizens. """"

WRONG! KILLED!,,,,, NOT MURDERED!....All, during the commission of crimes, 100 percent dangerous......!!!!

Last year:::::BLACK PEOPLE KILLED 9,000 BLACK PEOPLE.... Not a word on CNN!

And yes, serial assholes are the worst.... psychopaths, sociopaths, narcissists,,,, no need to keep them alive.

It's a slippery slope to no gravy at all.

I favor anyone found guilty of murder in which life in prison is the final verdict and all appeals considered, the prisoner should be offered a cyanide tablet which they can take or not, their choice. Victims have no choice of whether they live or not. A poison pill give their killer at least a choice.

I do not believe the state should be in the business of killing citizens because 1) Way too many innocent people on Death Row; 2) Too easy to pervert for political purposes.

On the other hand, some people perform acts of horror that do deserve removal, and allowing certain perpetrators to continue living is an affront to the victim's survivors. Thus, I believe additional protocols should be set up to only accommodate these conditions.

Perhaps a friend or relative of the victim should be tasked with throwing the switch. Otherwise, life without parole.

I've always thought that assaults on police should be severely dealt with as they are essential in a functioning society. An attack on police is directly attacking the authority of society.
However, as police represent this authority and hold a position of privilege in society, if they commit a crime they should receive twice the punishment normal citizens do. Same goes for all positions of authority eg politicians, judges and even teachers. And don't forget god bothering men in robes who hold a unique position of authority in society ie we give free access to our kids and if that is abused...........

It needs to be abolished, it isn't the "Deterrence" that the right claims it to be, in fact it's racist...

America perpetuates a very violent culture and I feel it is because of the unchecked tendency to opt for vengeance punishment rather than rehabilitation. That makes our culture very violent and apt to make mistakes about punishment ... to impose extremely long sentences and to execute many innocent people without a second thought. That disrespect for life permeates, cheapens, and numbs a culture re: its own barbarity. That attitude condones America's policy of permitting a lot of collateral damage in wars based on greed for resources. Religion often condones vengeance as well as collateral damage too.

It's not the worst that are executed but the weakest, the poor, the intellectually challenged and the mentally ill, How can you even debate who deserves the death penalty if it's not going to be administered fairly anyway?

I have been unequivocally against the death penalty for most of my adult life.
A few years ago I revised that POV because . . .
. . . I highly doubt it could-be/will-be abolished in the US
. . . reserving ONLY for serial killers could be a reasonable 'compromise'

I have long opposed the death penalty as a country should not be engaged in killing their own people. Often, I have had people try to argue the emotional, "how would you feel if........ your family. " I always respond with, "I hope someone stops me from doing exactly what you want, killing them myself." Then I go on to argue that emotional response should not be used as a government tool. More often, using that argument at least gets a listen.

I am totally against the death penalty, and have been for as long as l can remember. One wrong execution invalidates the whole idea, and we know in this countries history there have been untold wrongful exicutions. Given our healthcare system, the death penalty, and our obviously corrupt government, we are nothing more than a third world country with a whole lot of money. Very sad.

Homo are slowly becoming more sapiens and, IMO, abolishing the death penalty is an overdue next step.