and how many innocents had their lives taken by it.
This and this alone invalidates the death penalty in all circumstances, according to Blackstone's Formulation.
But it goes much deeper. Statistics prove the death penalty does not deter crime. Many have been executed, yet we still have murders and violent crime. Those who commit murder do not care about life, and thus the threat of a death penalty will not deter them from their committed acts.
Due to appeals, lawyers fees, court costs, the death penalty is far more expensive than keeping a convict in prison for life.
And the coup de gras, the death penalty is overwhelmingly biased towards killing black men, many whom have been shown to be innocent after it was carried out... the stats don't lie, the death penalty is racist.
If only those voting for the political Right would put their economic interests first, there would be no GOP, no nanny/police state, no unregulated out-of-control capitalist interests destroying our planet, and no inneffective, expensive, and racist death penalty.