Is the death penalty a form of Self Defense?

Question

I figure that is a straight forward question.

Answer 1

Beg pardon?

Answer 2

Nope, it is revenge, pure and simple.

Self defense would mean keeping the criminal off the streets for good.  Life without parole accomplishes that.

Americans are willing to pay quite a price for that revenge, too.  In the last 30 years, over 100 people have been released from death row because they were exonerated by DNA evidence. These are ALL people who were found guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt."  Unfortunately, DNA evidence is not available in most cases.  So, as long as capital punishment is in place, we are pretty much guaranteed to occasionally execute innocent people.  

If that's not a high price, I don't know what is.

In addition, Because of higher pre-trial expenses, longer trials, jury sequestration, extra expenses associated with prosecuting a DP case, separate sentencing trials, and the appeals process (which is necessary - see the previous paragraph), it costs taxpayers MUCH more to execute prisoners than to imprison them for life.

Some people argue that it is a deterrent, but that claim is questionable at best.  Violent crime rates are actually higher in death penalty jurisdictions. This may seem counterintuitive, and there are many theories about why this is (Ted Bundy saw it as a challenge, so he chose Florida – the most active execution state at the time – to carry out his final murder spree). Personally, I think it has to do with the hypocrisy of taking a stand against murder…by killing people. The government fosters a culture of violence by saying, ‘do as I say, not as I do.’

Answer 3

it is punishment and deterrent.

punish the one who did the killing and deter others from killing...kinda the point of the whole criminal justice system