I don’t think the government ought to be in the business of killing people. It accomplishes nothing. It’s inefficient, costs too much, and we don’t need to be giving the government that much power. I don’t personally think it makes anybody feel any better. We talk about giving closure to the victims. I don’t see how. I’ve never had to go through what they go through, but I wonder about a person that takes comfort in the death of another person. You know, that eases their grief somehow. That doesn’t sound right to me. And I don’t think there’s any real data to back up the idea that people feel better after the murderer’s been put to death. I mean, you go and witness it, what do you get? Just another memory you don’t want.
David Smith, Criminal Defense Attorney, quote from the Netflix Documentary “The Innocent Man”