In addition to what WoF and BM have stated previously:
1) Studies in the USA have shown that the death penalty is not regarded as a deterrent to criminals.
2) Every single death penalty case in the US has been appealed over and over again. There was one particular case where the guy pleaded guilty and couldn't be bothered fighting a case that he knew he'd lose. Amnesty appealed on his behalf, against his will. As BM said, the costs involved are absurd.
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What if they aren't guilty? Trust me, I hate the Government as much as you do/would, but I think that there must be someone there that is actually competent enough to actually check with what the police have found out and any other important areas of the whole thing before sentencing them to death.
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Later research in the USA has shown that up to 5-10% of cases where a person has been executed, they've later been found innocent due to more evidence or better technology. In most cases, the convicted person was black.
An interesting fact: if a kid in the bad parts of Miami shoots someone and is sent to Death Row, it will actually increase his life expectancy compared to staying home.