
I could give many more reasons, but one of the ones that people least understand is how insanely expensive it is to maintain the machinery of capital punishment. Life without opportunity for parole (but WITH the opportunity to correct a mistake if new evidence is discovered!) is much, much less expensive than the capital punishment system. So while the moral reasons against death penalty laws are compelling, the practical financial reasons are strong too -- we can't afford to maintain the death penalty. That's partly why former Chief Justices Paul DeMuniz and Edwin Peterson (a former death penalty supporter) have come out against it.