"But the toll on your own people has real consequences that you can prevent. Killing someone is the sort of thing that makes you question your own right to life

"But the toll on your own people has real consequences that you can prevent. Killing someone is the sort of thing that makes you question your own right to life." Agreed. We never consider the toll this takes on the executioner. How about the cost to society? The people that have to witness death will have long term psychological issues. How about the cost to society when we realize we've executed the wrong person? The downsides to our barbaric practice of executions are huge, and quantifiable. What's not quantifiable is the motivation for keeping the death penalty. The only justification after debunking all other reasons is belief. People "believe" that killing is the only punishment that fits the crime. We should not be in the practice of making life or death decisions based on belief.