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> Frank Athen Walls was an American serial killer and rapist who committed five murders between 1985 and 1987
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_A._Walls
> Willacy attempted to strangle Sather with a telephone cord, and when that didn't work, he doused her in gasoline and set her on fire, records show. An autopsy determined that Sather had died from smoke inhalation, indicating she was still alive when she was set on fire.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/man-convicted-of-setting...
Its so loaded question.
You picked two cases, while ignoring huge flaws of the system, because of which there is a chance innocent people get executed. Frank Athen Walls is likely very different person today compared to what he was 40 years ago, what is the rational to execute him now?
Is the death penalty cruel or is it compassion? That's a hard question to answer. We say it's cruel to lock an animal up and let it suffer its whole life. The phrase people tend to use is, "put it out of its misery". When it comes to people we don't do that. We lock them up in a cage and let them stew with it for rest of their life. The whole time, giving them hope they might find a loophole to get out. A false hope is cruel, but letting them out if they find a loophole is also cruel to anyone who might end up their next victim.
I could flip the question around. What are the limits of your empathy? Are you willing to risk innocent lives to provide unlimited empathy and 2nd, 3rd, 10th chances for people who have committed horrific acts?
Do you have compassion, love, or have you given a thought to the next victim of these criminals?
Simultaneously, I can understand the desire for the closure that comes with enacting the death penalty while being completely against it.
I also take issue with this:
> As she sat in traffic looking at the commuters around her, she realized none of them had any idea that a man was slated to die that day.
It's a bit pedantic, but no she didn't. She may have hypothesized that, or guessed it, but she didn't realize it. She didn't know every person there. The commuter next to her might be even more in tune with the executions. She can't know that, so no she didn't realize that.
> The counterprotester, meanwhile, a lean retiree named Bill Campbell, tried to drown out the sound with a boom box blasting “Another One Bites the Dust.” [emphasis mine]
Not "One of the" or "Some" or "Among the counterprotesters", just the one lone counterprotester whose life is so devoid of meaning that he has chosen to fill it with a solitary celebration of death.
Yes.
> What if they get the wrong person?
Don't kill those.