Much like any discussion involving issues of "right" and "wrong," I believe the death penalty is very difficult to implement in such a way that minimizes false positives and so am unsure as to whether or not I support it.

One thing I do wonder about, however, particularly being a therapist, is what is thought of those who are physically incapable of distinguishing reality from the imaginary (audio/visual hallucinations), such as is the case in schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders? Some have said that all murderers should be executed "like...vermin" but what of those who, for one reason or another, are not being treated for such a problem? Is it not then our responsibility to try and help them rather than dispose of them?

It seems that, if the answer is to kill them lest others be killed, then we should also kill others who have a high likelihood of harming others or being an extreme burden to society (i.e., profoundly mentally retarded individuals, those with or who have a history in their family of bipolar disorder, and even some with severe anxiety).

Case in point: I sent a first grader to a psychiatric hospital the other day because she was having visual hallucinations, threatening to kill herself, and hit a teacher her first day at our school. It was not just choices and behavior we were seeing...she was showing signs of serious mental illness with biological etiology. She was not behaving like vermin but like a little girl with an undiagnosed and untreated problem that could easily be helped with medication and therapy. Should we forget second chances for her and just send her to juvenile detention center? "Sure she should get a second chance," you say...but only because she's now being seen by a therapist and is receiving medication management. What if this guy was like the girl I work with when he was in first grade? Mental health services weren't available then.

I'm not pretending to know whether or not this man had mental illness and I'm certainly not pretending to be qualified to pass judgment as to whether or not he should have lived or died. What I am saying is that some of the comments regarding this issue leave no room for gray areas while there is a substantial amount of gray to be considered.