QUESTION OF THE WEEK: THE DEATH PENALTY

(Each "Question of the Week," an idea which I gleaned from A Republic If You Can Keep It, will remain toward the top of the blog until the next question appears. Last week's Question of the Week is HERE. Please scroll down for recent postings)

Yes, the death-penalty issue is often discussed. Last week, however, this article in the January 27, 2007 Washington Post has once again brought the topic to the fore here in Virginia, second only to Texas in executions carried out by the state.



Excerpt from the above article in the Washington Post:

The House of Delegates voted Friday to expand the use of the death penalty in Virginia by making accomplices and judge killers eligible for execution, virtually assuring that the measures will go to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), who personally opposes capital punishment.

The legislation to increase the use of capital punishment, which comes at a time when other states are considering repealing the death penalty, would make accomplices to a murder and anyone who kills a judge or a court witness eligible for the death penalty. The Senate passed nearly identical versions of the bills earlier in the week.

[...]

Under the state's triggerman rule, enacted three decades ago, only the person who carries out a killing can be executed. Exceptions have been made over time -- such as for crimes of terrorism, murder for hire or drug conspiracy...

[...]

The revision of the triggerman law, approved 83 to 11, allows for the death penalty to be imposed if the accomplice has the same intent as the killer.

Read the entire article, which explains why the recent attempts to change the law in Virginia.


QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What is your position on the death penalty, and why do you hold that view? Should application of the death penalty go beyond punishing the triggerman?