Readers of my blog are aware that I have problems with the death penalty. While I tend to disagree with it, I also tend to go back and forth on this issue. I don’t see it as clear cut as other issues, and so I try to read as much as I can on the subject.

Well, it so happens that one of the liberal blogs I read linked to a great article on the subject, an article by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who argues in favor of the death penalty.

He writes:

Of course those who deny the authority of a government to exact vengeance are not entirely logical. Many crimes—for example, domestic murder in the heat of passion—are neither deterred by punishment meted out to others nor likely to be committed a second time by the same offender. Yet opponents of capital punishment do not object to sending such an offender to prison, perhaps for life. Because he deserves punishment. Because it is just.

I encourage everyone to read the article, as it is well thought out and sure to give you a new perspective on the death penalty, whether you are for it or against it.