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When it comes to the death penalty, arguments pro and con come off as immovable objects against irresistible forces:
Those against it can't say for sure how many murders are deterred by it. But those in favor of execution must admit when they read almost any morning's newspaper that huge numbers aren't deterred.
And on the side of the anti-death lobby are such things as the savagery of capital punishment -- and the chance that an innocent person might be -- and has been, all too often -- put to death. Add to that the numbers of poor and minorities on death row, and the abolitionists carry the day against the law-and-order advocates who point to...
