The argument for the death penalty has always relied on primitive emotions. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life. The case against has tended to depend on an appeal to reason. The danger of a wrongful conviction. The sanctity of life and the possibility of redemption. The presumption against state killing except in a just war.
The botched attempt to execute Christa Pike, however, adds some atavistic emotion to the case against capital punishment. The horror of media witnesses hearing breathing and snoring after the administration of two doses of supposedly lethal pentobarbital speaks for itself.
