I am surprised by the number of countries which still have the death penalty, but of course the most surprising is the fact that we do:

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777460.html
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/deathworld1.html

The U.S. stopped executions from 1967-1976 pending a decision by the U.S. Supreme court on its legality. Then when it was determined to be legal - they started again. I think the U.S. has been under the misguided viewpoint that it somehows deters crime although I know of no studies that back that up.

Personally I have felt on a couple of occasions that someone who has committed crimes so despicable as to be abhorrent should die by the same means they employed on others. I think any parent could imagine wanting that for anyone who committed any of those acts on their own child. Generally though I do agree with Kofi Annan:

"The forfeiture of life is too absolute, too irreversible, for one human being to inflict it on another, even when backed by legal process. And I believe that future generations, throughout the world, will come to agree."


>>I think I can state my position on the death penalty in about two sentences. It's an oxymoron. "You have done the worst thing anyone can do, kill another human being, so for your crime we are going to kill you." Huh?
>>
>>Somehow being against the death penalty has been spun into being "soft on crime."
>
>That's coming from "culture of life" crowd. Which should probably mean "culture of (we decide on your) life".
>
>> Hardly, except maybe to those with limited faculties. Tough response to crime is just fine with me. I just don't think capital punishment is part of the equation. It seems like something from the dark ages, or the Islamic states maybe. Am I wrong or we the only "civilized" nation with a death penalty?
>
>Probably not the only, but surely among the last.