[mousepod]

I am one big wussy fence-sitter on this issue. On one hand, I work in a jail among many violent convicts - and I've seen "restorative justice" close-up. The prevailing feeling among the directors of programs here (both offender programs and victim programs) is very anti-death penalty. I admit that I'm a born skeptic, but a good skeptic looks at both sides of the issue, and I do see their point.

On the other hand, when I hear some of the descriptions of heinous crimes (none of which I'll repeat here) and it's absolutely clear who committed them, my instant reaction is that the offender should not be allowed to live. I know it's a very animalistic reaction on my part, but I can't deny it's there.

I'm glad I'm not the one who has to make these decisions, though my ambivalence would probably keep me on a jury (such irony).