OK I work in a prison as a corrections officer. We do not have a death row here localy the death row is in starke florida. We do occasionaly have people headed for death row (like Inmate Peterson) who will be headed out of the local to the state level after sentencing...
The death penalty is not about revenge... it may be SEEN as revenge by persons and family outside the system to those inside the system there is no feeling of glee at flipping the switch this is simply a very effective way to make sure that this killer does not kill again
Minorities are VERY VERY VERY often put on death row when they shouldn't be! I have read of a case where the lawyer for the defense was SLEEPING in court!!! When the defendent tried to get a new trial (and was denied) his lawyer told the judge he was only sleeping during the unimportant parts... WTF! Now in this case there was NO possiblity of his innocence but a good lawyer could have gotten him life in prison pretty easy...
As to google and his dna cocktail... I disagree that there is a "violent gene" that seems like racial profiling to me! I do agree that there are many factors in your upbringing that can lead to violence but these are not the one's who usually end up on death row... case in point if your a gangbanger and you shoot a rival gang member or two you are giving life max and in most cases your back on the street in 5-7 (I'll cover this more in a minute) usaully the ones on death row are brutal premeditated don't give a $hit murders and rapist of the WORST caliber imaginable!
As google also said these people have given up the right to be called normal... I take this a step furthur they have givin up the right to be called human! So the question is not do we kill this fellow human who's gone mad or do we put down this rabid animal for the good of other humans? easy answer for me!
The problem in the us is that many criminals do minimal time or no time so then they get out and because of their record (or mental condition) they are unable to get a job or reenter socity so they return to a life of crime and violence this is the cycle that people turn to the death penatly to stop... I have to admit it does stop the return of crime!
Here's another thought I'd be willing to bet $5 (but not the life of my friends or family) that Inmate Peterson would never kill again... Most men who kill their wifes are not violent in any other way (something that the testemony seemed to support) they are violent with wives and sometimes children but usaully no one else... and often only with one mate, if they remarry they may be fine! How do you cure that? Honestly if their hadn't been a child involved and the national attention of the search Inmate Peterson would probrably have gotten 15-20 and with time out for good behavior (remember they are usually only violent with wife or GF) he would have been out in 7-10! If you want to kill someone in the US killing a spouse is the way to go! Statisticly you will do more time for robbing a convinence store (5-7) for the 2nd time than killing your wife (3-5)!
Sorry for the spelling errors and if it seemed to wander I just took some cold medicine and I'm really not htinking clearly...