Death penalty: Death is not a punishment

Saddam Hussein is dead and everyone's happy about that, well most people are.

First of all, I have to say that I do agree with the death penalty of Saddam Hussein, not because I think killing him is the most fair thing to do, but because he might escape from prison if he was sentenced to life in prison - no matter how high the security is, a guy like him has resources.


Facts
Now, I'd like to talk a little about Death Penalty and the fairness of it.
First of, here are some facts taken from Amnesty International (www.amnesty.org)

- a total of 128 countries which have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.
88 of which are for all crimes, 11 for all but exceptional crimes, and 29 CAN use death penalty but hasn't carried out any executions in the past 10 years.

- 69 other countries can and still use Death Penalty.

- During 2005 at least 2148 people were executed in 22 countries and at least 5186 people were sentenced to death in 53 countries.
These were all the LEGAL executions and sentences, the actual number is probably much higher.

- 60 prisoners were executed in the USA in 2005!

- 38 of 50 states in US CAN use the Death Penalty.

- Since 1973, 123 prisoners have been released in the USA because evidence was found that they did not commit the crime for which they were sentenced to death.

Fair?
After looking at those facts, the first I think about are those that are innocent, spend years in prison and come close to be executed or actually ARE executed ... For a crime they didn't do? How is that fair?
In my opinion, if 1000 guilty people are executed it does not make up to the fact that ONE innocent is executed.

Also, guilty or not, the executed prisoners have family that are being punished for the crime their son/daughter/brother/sister/father/mother whatever it may be, did or did NOT commit.

Death is not a punishment
I do realize that those that are sentenced to death, spend many years in prison knowing they are going to die. And most don't know when, it might be 5 years, 10 years or 20 years! That is probably a rough thought.
But it is something to get used to and to look forward to. After spending so many years in a prison with smelly violent people and cranky prison guards, death is more like a reward than a punishment.
This must especially go for those that killed and/or molested children. Those do not have a fun time in prison. They are hated and are beaten up, some are even raped by their fellow prisoners.
Death will be a welcome gift, a way out of the hell they find themselves in.

Fair, for a person who's killed and/or molested another person, would be for him to spend a lifetime in hell... in prison.
The guilty person will know he/she will never see freedom again - he/she will probably eventually try to kill him/herself. Sort of puts things into perspective, doesn't it?
The innocent will know, that they have a lifetime to get out. For evidence to show up and they can get back to freedom. (They'll come out rich too, not that it makes up for staying in prison for something you didn't do, but it's a bandaid at least.)

Yes, there will be prisoners that are set free after many many years in prison, but they will be old and gray and they won't have a life or get one, when they get out.
It's also possible to take away that option for them to ever get out, if what they did was bad enough for it.

Death is not a punishment...