What does the death penalty accomplish?

The death penalty has been in the news recently, as California executed Stanley Williams, the founder of the Crips gang, on Tuesday.

This is completely senseless to me.

Williams was executed for his role in four robbery-related deaths in the late 1970s. He claimed he was innocent in these cases (a position which may have harmed his clemency bid). His lawyers unsuccessfully attempted to have his conviction thrown out. He may be guilty, or he may not be. I would lean toward guilt, simply because significant attention has been given to his case and multiple appeals have been filed. However, the uncertainty of a guilty verdict is always a problem with capital punishment.

But what is a bigger problem to me is the ultimate futility of it all.

In his years on death row, Williams renounced violence. But he didn't just talk about it. He wrote several children's books which condemned violence and gangs. While nothing he did was going to bring back the four lives he allegedly took, he was making a positive difference in society.

So what good did it do to end his life? He wasn't asking to be released from jail -- only to have his capital sentence reduced to a death sentence. Today, one more person is dead in California, and the only thing that has been satisfied is the primitive demand for vengeance from some some of the victims' families.

At the end of the day, putting people to death makes no one better off. It doesn't make our society any safer. It doesn't bring back the people who have already died. It only gives some kind of revenge. And what kind of system is that for a civilized society?