I agree it's a hard question. The USA could vote out the death penalty at any time, it's not baked into the constitution. But the USA doesn't, so we have to acc

I agree it's a hard question. The USA could vote out the death penalty at any time, it's not baked into the constitution. But the USA doesn't, so we have to accept the democratic judgment. I do think it's literally impossible to have a death penalty without killing innocents. If you look at the stream of criminal convictions that get reversed by appellate courts on a daily basis, combined with all the exonerations handed down to deathrow defendants, it is clear a guarantee of guilt is impossible. And bear in mind, that reversal of a conviction is usually only possible if there was a trial. Those who enter guilty pleas are often exempt. And 90%+ of defendants enter guilty pleas for a host of reasons. I think Trump's NY judge even commented recently that Cohen entry of a guilty plea wasn't evidence of his guilt (i.e. you might plead guilty and be innocent). Having spent a lot of time in the justice system, it's clear criminal trial courts don't have the resources to ensure fair verdicts regularly, and don't have high-quality staff to run them.