now, I love a good killin' as much as the next guy, and pedophiles are right at the top of the list.
the problem is, it is nigh on impossible to apply the death penalty in a way that is less expensive than coddling them in prison for life, without having a ridiculously high number of 'false positives' (it makes me shudder to even type that)
the US death penalty is incredibly expensive to the country, results in the tragic numbers of said 'false positives', and serves little useful purpose to the community.
those on death row waste huge amounts of money making frivulous appeals, and not unfrequently get away on idiotic technicalities, while those without the cash get railroaded through the sytem and sent to an early and too frequently unjustified grave.
the only objective of the US death penalty is to appease those who feel SOMEBODY has to PAY!!!, while ignoring that it has a large net detrimental effect on society.
like CSL, I feel that crime is a social problem first, and a individual problem second. punishing individuals demonstratably does not lead to lowering total crime, and the social cost is high.
however, I believe this largely applies only to crimes of 'necessity' (shuddering from the conservatives...:P), thefts, carjackings etc; not the tradgedies that usually result in death sentences (murder, rape, etc) and I am in favour of death for recidivist perpetrators of these offences, if they are proved beyond doubt (2 strikes and you are out, matey. side note: california 3-strikes laws, that's just wrong. steal 3 loaves of bread and they put you away for life. no parole. yeah...), purely for reasons of economic expediency. locking them away would cost us money that could be running hospitals or what have you. no fancy lethal injections, just a cheap 9mm round to the back of the head.
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