Reading this, I’m reminded of something that’s maybe not obvious, or maybe not everyone agrees with.

Killing people is not necessarily bad. Animals kill each other all the time, usually but not always for food. Death is a necessary part of life, not a bad or avoidable thing. Massacres are a common and an normal part of human society, both historically and today. Everyone can think of examples of reasonable or justifiable killing. To make an argument against killing as a punishment, there needs to be some philosophical rationale.

And of course there is a strong argument to show that capital punishment is wrong.

The state can punish people, but the punishment should never silence people. People need to be able to exercise the same political and activist activities during and after their punishment, as they did before. Otherwise, the punishment system can be used as a political tool to silence opposition.

Think of Bobby Sands and Eamon De Valera.

There is no need for a moral argument, even if one is possible. For purely practical reasons, capital punishment is forbidden within a democratic system.