Do not let the death lobby deceive you...the goal of capital punishment is revenge. It is not deterrence of crime, as the death penalty has been proven not to deter crime. It is not fiscal responsibility, as the death penalty costs the taxpayers millions of dollars more than life imprisonment. Capital punishment is nothing more than an outlet for the bloodlust of the American people. For too long now, politicians have played on these fears and fantasies for political gain. It is time to, once and for all, execute the death penalty.

As former Supreme Court justice Harry Blackmun said, the execution of an innocent person "comes perilously close to simple murder." Rather, it is simple murder, and one of the most horrific aspects of capital punishment. Since 1900, twenty-three people who we no

This brings this writer to the next point. What is the difference between the state killing and an individual killing? The result is the same - one more dead body, one more set of grieving parents, and one more cemetery slot. Every time we execute someone, we are sending the most profound message of cynicism about the value of human life. Every time we execute someone, we as a society sink to the same level as the common killer. The American people have blood on their hands, and it will stay there until we finally remove this barbaric practice from our nation.

The death penalty is overworked with abuses and the potential for abuse. Currently, the death penalty is divided along racial lines. A 1990 report released by the federal government's General Accounting Office found a "pattern of evidence indicating racial disparities in the charging, sentencing and imposition of the death penalty after the Furman decision."

Does the death penalty really deter crime? The death lobby wants you to believe the answer to that question is "yes." Nevertheless, in fact, it is a resounding "no." The US is the only Western nation that still allows the death penalty, and we also have one of the highest crime rates. During the 1980s, death penalty states averaged an annual rate of 7.5 criminal homicides per 100,000, while abolition states averaged a rate of 7.4 per 100,000. That means murder was actually MORE common in states that use the death penalty. Also consider this...in a nationwide survey of police chiefs and sheriffs, capital punishment ranked last as a way of reducing violent crime. Only twenty-six percent thought that the death penalty significantly reduces the number of homicides.

There are ways to help. The American people could write their Congressman or even e-mail the president. There are different groups to join like Amnesty International and The Friends Coalition against the Death Penalty. When you hear someone expounding an untruth (

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