Quote Originally Posted by MMI View Post
If I am wrong, why has the "law" changed everywhere society has developed beyond antediluvian communities?
We can't say that you're TOTALLY wrong, at least. Laws evolve, just as communities and civilizations evolve. As our knowledge and understanding of human nature grows our laws must reflect that knowledge. Is it justice to execute an insane person who had no idea he was doing harm? Of course not. Incarcerate him, in an institution, yes, but not execution. Should we drown women to see if they're witches? Ridiculous! There are no witches (the magic kind, at least. No offense to Wiccans.) Should we hang a woman because a child ran out from behind a parked car and she couldn't avoid striking him with her car? Of course not. (I lost a cousin this way. No way the woman was at fault.)

Naturally, each case would have to be judged on its own merits. No one I know, and certainly not myself, advocates rampant use of the death penalty. But there are some people, men and women, who just should not be allowed even the slightest chance of getting back into society. And the only way to guarantee that is to execute them.