Calling the death penalty process “arbitrary and capricious, and therefore immoral,” Gov. George Ryan cleared Illinois’ death row Saturday, commuting 167 condemned inmates’ sentences in the broadest attack on the death penalty in decades.

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This is excellent news. Most of the 167 will now serve life-without-parole.

I can’t see the argument why killing them is better than life-without-parole. Due to the necessary appeal process to protect someone not guilty from being executed (which isn’t 100% effective as it is), execution is actually more expensive than life imprisonment.

I don’t see how execution teaches society that murder is wrong…since obviously proponents of execution think murder is alright as long as the government is doing it.

And there is no evidence that it deters. Murderers tend to believe they won’t get caught, so any potential punishment is irrelevent to their thinking process.