death penalty

Generally I'm against the death penalty. I'm not against killing off the most violent members of society; I'm not against eye-for-an-eye revenge. But, the death penalty isn't effective at all. None of the arguments for the death penalty work. Here's all the common reasons proponents of the death penalty come up with, and my take on why they are completely bogus.
The death penalty deters crime... wrong, it only deters crime in places where it's carried out quickly and absolutely. In some countries if you are convicted of murder, you are taken outside and executed publicly, usually within 24 hours. Americans would never stand for this, so that eliminates the first argument.
I don't want my tax dollars paying to keep criminals alive... unfortunately, it costs dramatically more to kill those same criminals. The typical death penalty conviction must go through several levels of appeal. All these appeals must be heard by the courts in virtually every case. Attorneys are paid dramatically more than prison guards. One prison guard is responsible for several prisoners, where one prisoner on death row typically employs several attorneys and legal staff for many years, all while still using your tax dollars in prison. Life sentences are rarely appealed. The typical life span in prison is about two dozen years, many of the most violent prisoners get murdered in prison, often as a prowess maneuver within the convict population.
Sometimes people convicted of life sentences get paroled after many years... this is true. Unfortunately, it doesn't make much difference. Ask people who have been convicted of a life sentence if they've truly lost their life. They enter jail at 21 and leave at 55, and an old 55. Many die shortly after, and few ever transition completely into anything that resembles life. If you are sent away for life, they bleed the life out of you, then might release you. Virtually all habitual criminals are between 18 and 25. If you keep most criminals in jail until after their 25th birthday, the chances of repeat offenses drop dramatically. By the time a life sentence murderer gets released, the chances of him committing violent crime are virtually nil.
It's Democracy at work, if we vote death penalty legislation, then a jury votes for death, it's the people speaking... unfortunately, it is democracy at work, only not the democracy Thomas Jefferson envisioned. It's the politics of democracy. Governors push the death penalty to get elected, District attorneys push it to get elected, judges get elected, prison wardens get more budget money, newspapers sell more copies, local TV reporters get noticed by networks, high priced defense lawyers get more press, and professional protesters raise more money. In my opinion is the necessary evils of politics are at their worst when a death penalty case is being decided.
After guilt beyond reasonable doubt, and many appeals, they must deserve death... look at death row, three things determine if you receive the death penalty and it's carried out. You are either poor, mentally retarded, or dark skinned. If you are all three, you'll likely be executed even more quickly. I would agree with this reasoning, if it were fair. The reason that the poor, retarded, non-whites were found guilty and lost every appeal is that people dislike them more than wealthy, intelligent, Caucasians. Granted socially and economically depressed people and mentally retarded people stand a bigger chance of committing crime, they stand an overwhelming chance of being convicted of those crimes. This is particularly true in our most violent crimes. Most murders are committed by whites against people they once loved. With the exception of psychotic serial killers, these are also the most likely to commit multiple murders. Yet most of the people on death row are people who committed murder where the murderer is economically depressed and involved in crimes such as robbery or drug dealing, and commit murder, often by accident, during commission of these crimes. Much of the time the death row population are dark skinned people who committed crime against light skinned people. Until the ratio of white murderers is equal to the ratio of white people on death row, you won't convince me that anyone on death row deserves death exclusively for their crime. After all, i believe death penalty is a hard decision to make. whomever make a wrong step, then they should put in death penalty... i think