The death penalty is a politically motivated ploy.
Politicians want to appease victims' families.
Yet revenge does not make justice. Justice is not about revenge at all. Justice isn't about making victims feel better. Justice isn't about giving the victims retribution. The politics of retribution are very far divorced from a true concept of justice. The sickening American practice of giving victims' families a say in the sentences of convicts is part of a widespread social malaise where politicians pander to the some of the basest instincts of the people.